The inaugural College Football Playoff ended with the highest metered market rating ever on cable.
The Ohio State/Oregon College Football
National Championship earned an 18.9 overnight rating on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS Monday night, up 20% from both Florida State/Auburn last year and Alabama/Notre Dame on ESPN alone in 2012 (15.7 both years). The ESPN telecast had an 18.5 overnight.
The Buckeyes’ comfortable win ranks as the highest rated cable program ever in the metered markets, finishing well ahead of the previous record set by Auburn/Oregon in the 2011 BCS National Championship Game (16.1).
The 18.9 is also the highest for a college football national championship game since Florida/Ohio State on FOX in 2007 (19.1). Of the sixteen BCS title games (1999-2014), only Florida/Ohio State and USC/Texas in 2006 (22.7) earned a higher overnight than Monday’s game.
Together, the College Football Playoff semifinals and championship game account for three of the six highest overnights ever on cable. In the final tally, the three games will almost certainly rank #1, #2, and #3 on the all-time list.
In a demonstration of the NFL’s ratings power, Monday’s title game drew a lower overnight than three of the four NFL Divisional Round games — barely edging the Panthers/Seahawks snoozer on FOX (18.8). The game fared much better compared to other sports, however.
No NBA game has earned as large an overnight as Monday’s 18.9 since Bulls/Jazz Game 6 in 1998 (22.9), no baseball game has hit that mark since Red Sox/Cardinals Game 4 in 2004 (19.7), and no college basketball game has since at least 1997.
Columbus (OH) was the top market with a 51.2 rating, followed by nearby Dayton (43.8) and Cleveland (41.3). Portland ranked fourth with a 37.6, with Birmingham (36.1) rounding out the top five.
(Mon. numbers via ESPN Media Zone)
