A pairing of traditional underdogs put up decent enough numbers on FOX Monday night.
The Boise St./TCU Fiesta Bowl drew an 8.2/13 rating and 13.8 million viewers on FOX, down 21% in ratings and 19% in viewership from last year’s Ohio St./Texas game (10.4, 17.1 mil), but up 7% and 14%, respectively, from West Virginia/Oklahoma in ’08 (7.7, 12.2 mil).
Monday’s game stands as the third-most viewed Fiesta Bowl since ’03 — behind only last year’s Ohio St./Texas matchup and Ohio St./Notre Dame in ’06, which aired in the Rose Bowl’s New Year’s Day timeslot.
That said, the game is also the third-lowest rated Fiesta Bowl of the BCS era (since ’99).
Through two games (the Sugar and Fiesta Bowls), FOX is averaging an 8.4/14 rating and 14.6 million viewers for coverage of the Bowl Championship Series — up 27% and 29%, respectively, from a 6.6/11 and 11.3 million for last year’s comparable games (the Orange and Sugar Bowls).
Ratings/viewership for the Fiesta Bowl since ’96
Asterisk (*) indicates National Championship Game
| Year | Date | Game | Net | Rating | Viewers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Mon., 1/4/10 | Boise St./TCU | FOX |
8.2
|
13,820
|
| 2009 | Mon., 1/5/09 | Ohio St./Texas | FOX |
10.4
|
17,056
|
| 2008 | Wed., 1/2/08 | West Virginia/Oklahoma | FOX |
7.7
|
12,164
|
| 2007 | Mon., 1/1/07 | Boise St./Oklahoma | FOX |
8.4
|
13,778
|
| 2006 | Mon., 1/2/06 | Ohio St./Notre Dame | ABC |
12.9
|
20,601
|
| 2005 | Sat., 1/1/05 | Utah/Pittsburgh | ABC |
7.4
|
12,216
|
| 2004 | Fri., 1/2/04 | Ohio St./Kansas St. | ABC |
8.5
|
13,690
|
| 2003 | Fri., 1/3/03 | Ohio St./Miami* | ABC |
17.2
|
29,104
|
| 2002 | Tue., 1/2/02 | Oregon/Colorado | ABC |
11.3
|
18,229
|
| 2001 | Mon., 1/1/01 | Oregon St./Notre Dame | ABC |
10.7
|
17,475
|
| 2000 | Sun., 1/2/00 | Nebraska/Tennessee | ABC |
9.6
|
—
|
| 1999 | Mon., 1/4/99 | Florida St./Tennessee* | ABC |
17.2
|
—
|
| 1998 | Wed., 12/31/97 | Kansas St./Syracuse | CBS |
5.8
|
—
|
| 1997 | Wed., 1/1/97 | Penn St./Texas | CBS |
10.0
|
—
|
| 1996 | Tue., 1/2/96 | Nebraska/Florida* | CBS |
18.8
|
—
|
