FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 11th, 2018

NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL ON NBC VIEWERSHIP BEST IN EIGHT YEARS

First Two ND on NBC Games Produce Total Audience Delivery Average of 4.837 Million Viewers; Up 65% vs. 2017

Saturday’s Notre Dame-Ball State on NBC Produces TAD Average of 2.473 Million Viewers; Up 55% vs. First ND Afternoon Game in 2017

No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Host Vanderbilt Commodores Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC

Mike Tirico, Doug Flutie, Kathryn Tappen and Terry McAulay to Call Matchup; Tappen and Chris Simms Host Halftime Coverage

STAMFORD, Conn. – September 11, 2018 NBC Sports’ Notre Dame Football on NBC coverage is off to its most-watched season in eight years, producing a Total Audience Delivery average of 4.837 million viewers through its first two games, according to data provided by The Nielsen Company and Adobe Analytics.

Through two games, NBC Sports’ Notre Dame viewership on NBC is up 65% vs. the first two games of the 2017 season (Temple and Georgia, 2.923 million), and marks the best viewership since 2010 (5.360 million), when Notre Dame opened the season at home with rivalry games against Purdue and Michigan.

The 2018 Notre Dame Football on NBC campaign opened with the network’s most-watched Notre Dame game in 13 years, as more than 7 million viewers tuned in to NBC to watch the Fighting Irish defeat the then-ranked No. 14 Michigan Wolverines, 24-17, on Sept. 1 to rank as the most-watched college football game of Labor Day weekend.

The No. 8 Fighting Irish’s 24-16 win against Ball State on NBC last Saturday produced a Total Audience Delivery average of 2.473 million viewers, up 55% vs. last year’s comparable afternoon game on NBC (Temple; 1.594 million)

 

NO. 8 NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH HOST VANDERBILT COMMODORES SATURDAY AT 2:30 P.M. ET ON NBC

NBC Sports continues its 28th season of Notre Dame Football on NBC this weekend, when the No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (2-0) host the Vanderbilt Commodores (2-0) this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. This marks the first of three 2:30 p.m. ET start times for Notre Dame Football on NBC this season (Pittsburgh, 10/13; Syracuse, 11/17).

The Fighting Irish improved to 2-0 with a 24-16 win at home against the Ball State Cardinals on Saturday in South Bend. RB Jafar Armstrong rushed for his third touchdown of the season through two games, and RB Tony Jones Jr. added a pair of touchdown rushes for the Fighting Irish. QB Brandon Wimbush threw for 297 yards despite three interceptions.

Vanderbilt visits South Bend this weekend for the first time since 1995, and the third all-time meeting between the two schools. The Commodores are off to a 2-0 start following wins against Middle Tennessee State (35-7) and Nevada (41-10) at home. QB Kyle Shurmur, son of New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur, threw two touchdowns passes in each game. The Commodores look to snap a 19-game road losing streak against ranked opponents that dates back to October of 2007 when they beat South Carolina.

NBC Sports’ Notre Dame football commentary team is led by Mike Tirico, who is in his second full season as the voice of Notre Dame Football on NBC. He’s joined in the booth by Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie, who serves as lead analyst for Notre Dame Football on NBC, and sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen. Former NFL referee Terry McAulay, who recently joined NBC Sports following 20 years as an on-field NFL game official, joins the booth in his first season as an on-air rules analyst.

Kathryn Tappen will handle halftime coverage of Notre Dame Football on NBC this Saturday alongside former college and NFL quarterback Chris Simms (studio analyst).


2018 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL ON NBC

DATE TIME (ET) GAME NETWORK
Saturday, September 15 2:30 p.m. Notre Dame vs. Vanderbilt NBC
Saturday, September 29 7:30 p.m. Notre Dame vs. Stanford NBC
Saturday, October 13 2:30 p.m. Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh NBC
Saturday, November 10 7:30 p.m. Notre Dame vs. Florida State NBC
Saturday, November 17 2:30 p.m. Notre Dame vs. Syracuse* NBC

*at Yankee Stadium


NBC SPORTS GOLD
TO OFFER DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER LIVE STREAMING PRODUCT FOR INTERNATIONAL NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL FANS

NBC Sports Gold – NBC Sports Digital’s direct-to-consumer live streaming product – is relaunching its international “Notre Dame Football Season Pass,” giving fans in 13 international countries access to every Fighting Irish home game during the 2018 season. Powered by NBC Sports’ Playmaker Media, the direct-to-consumer pass will offer fans abroad comprehensive coverage of seven Notre Dame football home games live and on-demand, available online, as well as on mobile devices and tablets.

NBC Sports Gold’s “Notre Dame Football Season Pass” is available for purchase now for $49.99, and features all seven home games in the 2018 season. The pass is available in 13 countries: Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and UK. USD or local currency pricing is available. “Notre Dame Football Season Pass” is not available to customers in the U.S. Click here for more information.


INSIDE THE IRISH
ON NBCSPORTS.COM

NBCSports.com will continue its Notre Dame Football coverage through its popular Inside The Irish blog, as Notre Dame Football insider Douglas Farmer covers the Irish from all angles throughout the 2018 season.


NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL ON NBCSPORTS.COM AND THE NBC SPORTS APP

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming platforms for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will provide extensive live streaming coverage of the 2018 Notre Dame Football on NBC season via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are powered by Playmaker Media and available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire.

–NBC SPORTS–