The college football bowl season got off to a good start on ESPN.
ESPN averaged a 1.7 U.S. rating and 2.6 million viewers for its first four college football bowl games, up 6% in ratings and 10% in viewership from the comparable four games last year (1.6, 2.4 million).
The top game so far was Saturday’s double-overtime Wyoming/Fresno St. New Mexico Bowl, which drew a 2.4 U.S. rating and 3.6 million viewers. The game was up 9% and 5%, respectively, from a 2.2 and 3.6 million for last year’s game.
Boosted by a strong lead-in from the New Mexico Bowl, Saturday’s St. Petersburg Bowl had big jump in viewership from last year. Rutgers’ win over UCF drew a 1.6 U.S. rating and 2.5 million viewers, up 46% and 49%, respectively, from last year’s Memphis/South Florida game (1.1, 1.7 million).
Sunday’s New Orleans Bowl, which aired opposite Sunday Night Football on NBC, was the only bowl game so far to have a decline in viewership. The game, between Middle Tennessee and Southern Miss, drew a 0.7 U.S. rating and 993,000 viewers — flat in ratings, but off 11% in viewership from last year.
Finally, Tuesday’s BYU/Oregon St. Las Vegas Bowl drew a 2.2 U.S. rating and 3.5 million viewers, flat in ratings and up 5% in viewership from last year’s game (2.2, 3.4 mil).
(ESPN; last year’s numbers via Multichannel News)
