Two of the biggest brands in college football could not overcome a lopsided result Monday night.
Monday’s Alabama/Notre Dame BCS National Championship Game drew a 15.1 U.S. rating and 26.4 million viewers on ESPN, according to Nielsen fast-nationals — up 8% in ratings and 9% in viewership from Alabama/Louisiana State last year (14.0, 24.2M), but down 1% and 3%, respectively, from Auburn/Oregon in 2011 (15.3, 27.6M).
The game ranks as the second-most viewed program in cable television history, behind only Auburn/Oregon in ’11. Excluding the NFL and the Olympic Games, the game also ranks as the most-viewed sporting event on any network since the ’11 title game.
With that said, Alabama’s easy win also ranks as the sixth-lowest rated and seventh-least viewed national championship game of the BCS era (15 telecasts).
Due to the high-profile teams involved, Alabama/Notre Dame had been widely expected to challenge the 2006 Texas/Southern Cal Rose Bowl as the highest rated and most-viewed game in BCS history. The 2006 game drew a 21.7 rating and 35.6 million viewers on ABC.
It is obvious that the uncompetitive nature of the game negatively impacted the numbers. The first half of the game averaged a 17.6 U.S. rating, up 14% from the first half of Auburn/Oregon two years ago (15.4). Alabama led 28-0 at halftime.
Even if the game was unlikely to challenge Texas/Southern Cal under any circumstances, a closer result would have at least resulted in a new cable television record.
Ratings/Viewership For BCS National Championship Game
Ranked by viewership
|
#
|
Date
|
Winner
|
Loser | Victory Margin |
Net
|
Rating |
Viewers
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Wed., 1/4/06 | Texas | USC |
3
|
ABC |
21.7
|
35.6M
|
|
2
|
Thu., 1/7/10 | Alabama | Texas |
16
|
ABC |
17.2
|
30.8M
|
|
3
|
Fri., 1/3/03 | Ohio State | Miami |
7
|
ABC |
17.2
|
29.1M
|
|
4
|
Mon., 1/8/07 | Florida | Ohio State |
27
|
FOX |
17.4
|
28.8M
|
|
5
|
Mon., 1/10/11 | Auburn | Oregon |
3
|
ESPN |
15.3
|
27.3M
|
|
6
|
Wed., 1/3/01 | Oklahoma | FSU |
11
|
ABC |
17.8
|
27.2M
|
|
7
|
Tue., 1/4/00 | FSU | Virginia Tech |
17
|
ABC |
17.5
|
27.0M
|
|
8
|
Thu., 1/8/09 | Florida | Oklahoma |
10
|
FOX |
15.8
|
26.8M
|
|
9
|
Mon., 1/7/13 | Alabama | Notre Dame |
28
|
ESPN |
15.1
|
26.4M
|
|
10
|
Mon., 1/4/99 | Tennessee | FSU |
7
|
ABC |
17.2
|
26.1M
|
|
11
|
Mon., 1/9/12 | Alabama | LSU |
21
|
ESPN |
14.0
|
24.2M
|
|
12
|
Sun., 1/4/04 | LSU | Oklahoma |
7
|
ABC |
14.8
|
23.9M
|
|
13
|
Mon., 1/7/08 | LSU | Ohio State |
14
|
FOX |
14.4
|
23.0M
|
|
14
|
Thu., 1/3/02 | Miami | Nebraska |
23
|
ABC |
13.8
|
21.6M
|
|
15
|
Tue., 1/4/05 | USC | Oklahoma |
36
|
ABC |
13.7
|
21.4M
|
(Monday’s numbers from ESPN Media Zone)
