FOX Passes on Final Bedlam, Gets Owned in Week 10 Ratings by ABC
Week 10 provided one of the best weekends of Big 12 football that we’ve seen in some time as the top six and bottom eight teams in the conference faced off against one another to set up the conference hierarchy heading into the final stretch of the 2023 season.
Among the seven games, of which six ended with one-score decisions, three stood out: Kansas State at Texas, Kansas at Iowa State, and, of course, the final Bedlam matchup between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
With a six-day selection being placed on both K-State vs. Texas and Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State, FOX had the first choice of where it would set up for its weekly Big Noon Kickoff show and subsequent game.
Instead of taking the last-ever Bedlam in Stillwater, FOX opted to take the Wildcats and Longhorns, leaving ABC to air Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State in their 2:30 window.
According to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, that decision didn’t bode so well for FOX, at least in terms of ratings.
Despite being in the 2:30 window, which doesn’t perform as well as the featured 11:00 a.m. game, Bedlam outperformed KSU-Texas by nearly 30% (28.5%) in terms of average viewers.
How FOX turned down the last Bedlam in the first place is wild, but to then get owned by ABC in a less desirable window? Ouch.
Of course, both games ended up being incredibly entertaining, as Texas outlasted K-State, 33-30, in overtime, and Oklahoma State took down Oklahoma, 27-24, stopping the Sooners on a go-ahead drive with less than two minutes to go.
Perhaps the next time those two teams are on the field together, FOX will do what it can to air the broadcast. Of course, who knows when that will be.
