This clause in the article might help explain...."The data encompassed all games across ABC and the ESPN networks, Fox’s networks, NBC, CBS and the CW. No conference networks were included, as some are not Nielsen rated. Kentucky’s average may have been inflated because its four ABC games were the only times it appeared on a Nielsen-rated network."
The data provided is average viewers for games on the major networks. So the less than stellar ratings for a game like Western Michigan at Ohio State (1.72M viewers) and Arkansas State at Michigan (980K viewers) on the Big 10 Network aren't factored into OSU's and Michigan's average viewership. For the SEC, games like TN Tech @ Georgia or Mercer @ Alabama don't factor into their average viewership either.
But for Notre Dame all their games factor into the average viewership so all those crappy home dates end up in ND's data but not in the other big brands. For example, the Stanford at ND game drew 1.87M viewers on NBC. Twice as many than watched Ark St. vs Michigan but the Stanford game is in ND's averages and the Ark St. game is not in Michigan's.
Couple that with ND's historically awful matchups this season, especially the home slate and you get numbers skewed against ND. If Notre Dame had Georgia's schedule, with its several marquee matchups - Clemson, Alabama, Texas, Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee, instead of the dregs of this season's ND schedule, ND's TV ratings would be comparable to those at the top of the article's list.
www.nytimes.com
www.sports-reference.com
