Ratings for the Orange Bowl sank to record lows.
Virginia Tech’s victory over Cincinnati drew a mere 5.4/9 final rating and 9.3 million viewers on New Year’s Day, down 23% and 20% respectively from a 7.0 with 11.7 million for the last year’s Georgia/Hawaii Sugar Bowl, which also aired on New Year’s Day.
The game was also down 27% and 22% respectively from a 7.4 with 12 million for last year’s Orange Bowl between Kansas and Virginia Tech.
Ratings peaked at a 6.4/11 from 10-10:15 PM, the only quarter-hour of the game that drew a rating of 6.0 or higher. The last hour of the game (11 PM-12 AM) averaged a 5.0 rating.
The 5.4 rating is easily the lowest ever for a BCS bowl game, behind the previous record low of 7.0 for the 2008 Sugar Bowl and the 2007 Orange Bowl. Compared to record lows in other sports, the 5.4 is barely ahead of the lowest NBA Finals rating ever (5.2 for Game 2 in 2003) and behind the lowest rated World Series game ever (6.1 for Game 3 in 2008).
Among the programs to draw a higher rating than the Orange Bowl last Thursday: an episode of Deal or No Deal on NBC (5.7/9 rating, 9.5 million viewers) and a re-run of CSI on CBS (5.8/9, 9.8 million).
The past three Orange Bowls have been three of the four lowest rated BCS bowls in history. Additionally, the four lowest rated BCS bowls have all aired on FOX.
Lowest rated BCS games.
through Thursday
5.4: 2009 Orange Bowl, Cincinnati/Virginia Tech (1/1/09, 8:30 PM FOX)
7.0: 2008 Sugar Bowl, Georgia/Hawaii (1/1/08, 8:30 PM FOX)
7.0: 2007 Orange Bowl, Louisville/Wake Forest (1/2/07, 8 PM FOX)
7.4: 2008 Orange Bowl, Kansas/Virginia Tech (1/3/08, 8 PM FOX)
7.4: 2005 Fiesta Bowl, Utah/Pittsburgh (1/3/05, 8 PM ABC)
