or


[01/02/15 - 01:26 PM]
College Football Playoff Semifinals - Cable's Largest Two Audiences in History
ESPN further spins the numbers for Wednesday, December 31 and Thursday, January 1.

[via press release from ESPN]

College Football Playoff Semifinals - Cable's Largest Two Audiences in History

· The Rose Bowl Game and Sugar Bowl Each Average More Than 28 Million Viewers

· Sugar Bowl up 130% from 2014's Prime-time Game, Rose Bowl Game up 45%

· Big Increase for New Year's Six on December 31 and January 1

· WatchESPN Record for Sugar Bowl

The two games of the inaugural College Football Playoff Semifinals on ESPN on Thursday, Jan. 1, delivered the largest two audiences in cable television history:

· The Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual at 5 p.m. ET - Oregon defeating previously unbeaten Florida State 59-20, the largest margin of victory in the Rose Bowl Game since 1948 - averaged 28,164,000 viewers (P2+), based on a 14.8 rating, according to Nielsen.

· The Allstate Sugar Bowl at 9 p.m. - Ohio State 42-35 over top-seeded Alabama - averaged 28,271,000 viewers, based on a 15.2 rating.

"These record-setting numbers illustrate the enormous fan interest in college football and the wide-ranging appeal of the new College Football Playoff format," said John Wildhack, ESPN executive vice president, programming and production. "We are excited to build upon this success when we showcase the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship on ESPN on January 12."

Both games generated significant increases over the ESPN bowl games in the respective January 1 time slots a year ago: a 51 percent increase in viewership for the Rose Bowl Game (vs. 18,636,000) and 150 percent increase for the Sugar Bowl (vs. 11,304,000). The ratings rose 45 percent (from 10.2) and 130 percent (from 6.6), respectively.

ESPN programming now holds the largest 18 audiences in cable television history, and 36 of the top 40.

WatchESPN

In its debut, the College Football Playoff semifinal games live on WatchESPN logged an average of 864,000 unique viewers, 42.4 million minutes viewed and an average minute audience of 187,000 per game - up 185 percent, 124 percent and 119 percent, respectively, compared to the last year's games in the time slots.

· Alabama-Ohio State was the best Sugar Bowl ever across all metrics - 912,000 unique viewers (up 164 percent compared to last year's Sugar Bowl), 58.7 million minutes viewed (up 173 percent) and an average minute audience of 256,000 (up 181 percent).

· The Sugar Bowl now stands as the best college football game ever on WatchESPN based on unique viewers and minutes viewed.

· Despite technical issues during the first half of Oregon-Florida State, WatchESPN recorded its best Rose Bowl ever based on unique viewers (816,000, up 212 percent) and second best ever in minutes viewed (26.2 million, up 59 percent) and average minute audience (116,000, up 47 percent).

The average New Year's Six game live on WatchESPN attracted 505,000 unique viewers, 26.2 million minutes viewed and an average minute audience of 118,000 - up 229 percent, 214 percent and 198 percent, respectively, compared to the same dates last year. Compared to the four non-championship BCS games last year, the average New Year's Six game was up 85 percent in unique viewers, 55 percent in minutes viewed and 57 percent in average minute audience.

New Year's Six - Rookie of the Year

The New Year's Six - the six bowl games, three on New Year's Eve and three on New Year's Day, that are part of the new College Football Playoff - posted an increase of 78 percent in viewership compared to the same six time slots last year. The six averaged 14,682,000 viewers, up from 8,267,000. In addition to the two semifinals, New Year's Day's Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (12:30 p.m.) on ESPN increased viewership for the time slot 67 percent, from 5,435,000 to 9,086,000. The rating rose 63 percent, from 3.2 to 5.2.

New Year's Six on Social Media

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day were active ones for social media users consuming New Year's Six content which included the semifinals.

· Just shy of 5.4 million tweets were sent about the New Year's Six Bowl games across the two days comprising 70 percent of all tweets about TV programming in those 48 hours.

· Additionally, despite the lopsided score of the matchup between Florida State and Oregon in the Rose Bowl, it was the most tweeted about game of the New Year's Six with 2.6 million tweets and ranks as the most tweeted about football game (NFL or college) of the 2014-15 season.

College Football Championship on Monday, Jan. 12

The New Year's Day semifinal winners - Oregon and Ohio State (both 13-1) - will play in the inaugural College Football National Championship Presented by AT&T Monday, Jan. 12, at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN, WatchESPN and ESPN Radio. In addition, ESPN Deportes will provide exclusive Spanish-language coverage of the national championship. ESPN Deportes Radio also will carry game, marking the first-ever national Spanish-language radio broadcast of a college football title game. ESPN's extensive studio plans for the contest: http://es.pn/1txxTdL.





  [january 2015]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
    


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[11/01/24 - 11:54 AM]
"High Potential" Continues Linear Dominance as ABC Wins Tuesday 10 p.m. Hour in Total Viewers for First Time in 4 Years
Season to date through week five, "High Potential" stands as ABC's most-watched (10.42 million) new series in six years - since the 2018-2019 season with "The Conners."

[10/31/24 - 06:41 PM]
FOX Sports Caps a Postseason for the Ages as World Series Game 5 Delivers 18.6 Million Viewers
Across all networks, the 120th World Series dominated the television landscape with an average of 15,808,000 viewers, the best combined figure for the Fall Classic since 2017.

[10/30/24 - 03:14 PM]
FOX Sports Hits Grand Slam with Most-Watched World Series Game 4 Since 2016, Peaking at 18.2M Viewers
Through Game 4, the 2024 World Series across all networks is averaging 14,984,000 viewers - its best start since 2017.

[10/29/24 - 03:37 PM]
World Series Game 3: Monday's Most-Watched Program
On FOX, the broadcast averaged 13,208,000 viewers, making it the most-watched Game 3 since 2018.

[10/29/24 - 12:03 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of Oct. 21: "The Lincoln Lawyer" Courts the Top Spot; "Don't Move" Debuts at #1
The new docuseries "This Is the Zodiac Speaking" debuted at #2 with 7.5M views and the feature documentary "Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare" stole #3 (7.2M views).

[10/29/24 - 11:30 AM]
CBS Premiere Episodes Soar in Multiplatform Viewership Led by "Matlock" Premiere Amassing 22.8 Million Viewers in One Month
Other highlights include the series premiere of "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage" amassed 10.6 million multiplatform viewers in its first seven days.

[10/28/24 - 03:50 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Is Top Program of the Night in Adults 18-49
Season to date, "Dancing with the Stars" stands as the No. 1 entertainment program on broadcast in Adults 18-49 (0.69 rating).

[10/28/24 - 02:05 PM]
Cowboys-49ers Averages Nearly 24 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock in Most-Watched Week 8 "Sunday Night Football" Game Ever
NBC Sports' audience peaked at 26.4 million viewers in the second quarter (9:15-9:30 p.m. ET).

[10/27/24 - 02:17 PM]
Viewership Gains: World Series Off to Strongest Start Since 2017
With 13,444,000 viewers, it was the most-watched World Series Game 2 on FOX since 2018 (Dodgers-Red Sox: 13,508,000).

[10/26/24 - 01:12 PM]
Gibby, Meet Freddie: MLB Delivers 15.2M Viewers for World Series Game 1
It was the most-watched World Series Game 1 since 2017 (Astros-Dodgers: 15,328,000).

[10/25/24 - 10:57 AM]
The 2024 WNBA Season Delivers Record Viewership Across ESPN Platforms
The 2024 postseason averaged 1.1 million viewers - up 139 percent over 2023's postseason - making it the most-viewed WNBA postseason in 25 years.

[10/24/24 - 01:42 PM]
"Interview with a Killer" Sets Record with Most-Watched Court TV Original Series Debut
The show's initial telecasts were up +50% with Persons 2+ and +60% in P25-54, to become Court TV's top-performing original since the network began being Nielsen rated.

[10/23/24 - 12:35 PM]
"9-1-1" Concludes Wildly Exciting "Bee-Nado" Story Arc, Rising +89% in Total Viewers and +294% in Adults 18-49 Over Initial Live + Same Day Audience
On linear, "9-1-1" ranked as the top entertainment program of the night in both Total Viewers (7.39 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.75 rating).

[10/23/24 - 11:25 AM]
It's a Hallmark Channel Christmas Across Entertainment Cable
"'Twas the Date Before Christmas," "Holiday Crashers," and "Scouting for Christmas" became the Top 3 entertainment cable programs of the week among Households, Total Viewers, and Women and Persons 18+.

[10/22/24 - 03:00 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" for 6th Consecutive Week
Season to date, "Nightline" is up in Total Viewers (+2% - 989,000 vs. 958,000) versus the comparable weeks last season, posting its largest Total Viewer audience in 5 years - since the 2019-2020 season.