For the second straight year, overnight ratings increased for college football’s national championship game.
Alabama’s win over Texas in the BCS National Championship Game drew an 18.2 overnight rating on ABC Thursday night, up 7% from a 17.0 for Florida/Oklahoma last year, and up 17% from a 15.6 for LSU/Ohio St. in ’08 (both of which aired on FOX).
The 18.2 overnight is the highest for the BCS National Championship Game — and any non-NFL, non-Olympic sporting event — since the Florida/Ohio St. BCS title game drew a 19.1 in ’07.
Additionally, the 18.2 is the highest overnight rating for any sporting event on ABC since Super Bowl XL in 2006.
To put the numbers in perspective, the 18.2 overnight tops every Major League Baseball game since 2004, every NBA game since 1998 and every college basketball game since at least ’97.
