There is some truth in that, but let's look at some real numbers for last season. In 2020 Texas averaged 2,825,000 viewers in 10 games. Iowa State averaged 2,258,333 in 12 games where ratings were reported.
The Texas numbers do not include a game against Kansas which was the worst draw for Iowa State with only 247,000 viewers for that game.
Texas had 8 games on FOX and ABC which consistently pull down the biggest numbers. The remaining two games were on ESPN including the Alamo Bowl.
Iowa State had 6 games on FOX and ABC, 3 on ESPN and 3 on FS1. FS1 is a death sentence when looking at ratings. Iowa State's 3 games on FS1 averaged 360,000 which brings down the average. The Fiesta Bowl was on ESPN. The Big 12 Championship was on ABC, but the rematch drew fewer numbers than the regular season game which was also on ABC. The championship game numbers were probably hurt going up against the Big Ten championship at the same time. Ohio State was been a ratings juggernaut in 2020, averaging around 6,000,000 viewers not including the playoffs which averaged 19,000,000 viewers.
Iowa State is at the opposite end of that spectrum. But even with the three FS1 games bringing down the average, ISU averaged the third most viewers per game in the Big 12. Their 2020 numbers were very respectable.
There is plenty of information here to support your statement about Texas viewers. I just wanted to throw the numbers out there with minimal commentary. I'll be pulling down the current season before it ends and looking at those.
Here's the average viewers for Big 12 teams. (Sorry I don't know how to format it better on this board.)
Team Games Viewers
Oklahoma 10 3,072,100
Texas 10 2,825,000
Iowa State 12 2,258,333
Oklahoma State 11 2,177,000
West Virginia 10 1,554,200
Kansas State 10 1,418,900
Texas Tech 8 1,340,750
TCU 10 1,086,700
Baylor 9 891,111
Kansas 8 559,375
Click to expand...