[BostonCard]

There are *brobdingnagian* difference between the NBA and Pac-12 that your analysis neglects.  The NBA is only competing with itself when it comes time of its games.  It has full control over the entire schedule, so it can, for example, shift East Coast games to start earlier to accommodate West coast games starting earlier, and maximize exposure by not, for example, scheduling two compelling games at the same time.  Moreover, there are 30 teams, playing 82 games a season (1230 games total, spread out over 176 days, so an average of 7 games/day).  NBA games last 2 hrs and 15 minutes on average, so you can basically run 8 hours of broadcasts with at most two games at any one time.

In college football, there are 65 power five teams, and they generally play only on Saturdays.  During the conference season, that means that there are 25 - 30 games featuring two power-5 teams per Saturday.  The Pac-12 doesn't have full scheduling control, so it can't ask for a compelling SEC match-up to be shifted to the afternoon so that a compelling Pac-12 match-up can run unopposed at primetime.  If an average college football broadcast is a bit over three hours, a 12 hour broadcast schedule means that at any given time there are seven or so intra-conference games.  And during the East Coast's waking hours, the TV schedule is going to be saturated with SEC/ACC/BigTen coverage.

But of course, CTCard's point summarizes it best.  Pac-12 games broadcast "after dark" get more eyeballs than games broadcast during the East Coast primetime.

BC

[BostonCard]

There are *brobdingnagian* difference between the NBA and Pac-12 that your analysis neglects.  The NBA is only competing with itself when it comes time of its games.  It has full control over the entire schedule, so it can, for example, shift East Coast games to start earlier to accommodate West coast games starting earlier, and maximize exposure by not, for example, scheduling two compelling games at the same time.  Moreover, there are 30 teams, playing 82 games a season (1230 games total, spread out over 176 days, so an average of 7 games/day).  NBA games last 2 hrs and 15 minutes on average, so you can basically run 8 hours of broadcasts with at most two games at any one time.

In college football, there are 65 power five teams, and they generally play only on Saturdays.  During the conference season, that means that there are 25 - 30 games featuring two power-5 teams per Saturday.  The Pac-12 doesn't have full scheduling control, so it can't ask for a compelling SEC match-up to be shifted to the afternoon so that a compelling Pac-12 match-up can run unopposed at primetime.  If an average college football broadcast is a bit over three hours, a 12 hour broadcast schedule means that at any given time there are seven or so intra-conference games.  And during the East Coast's waking hours, the TV schedule is going to be saturated with SEC/ACC/BigTen coverage.

But of course, CTCard's point summarizes it best.  Pac-12 games broadcast "after dark" get more eyeballs than games broadcast during the East Coast primetime.

BC