The lone BCS bowl on ABC saw a bump in the ratings.
USC’s win over Penn State in the Rose Bowl drew an 11.7/21 final rating and 20.6 million viewers on ABC last Thursday, up 5% and 8% respectively from an 11.1/19 and 19.0 million for Illinois/USC last year.
The 11.7 rating marks a 16% decline from a 13.9 for the USC/Michigan Rose Bowl two years ago, and is the third-lowest rating for the Rose Bowl since the inception of the BCS.
The peak rating came early, with ABC drawing a 13.7/27 from 5:30-5:45 PM. The first half of the game (5-6:45 PM) averaged a 13.0 rating, compared to a 10.1 for the second half (6:45-8:30 PM).
Rose Bowl ratings since 1998-99.
*: national championship game
11.7: Penn State/USC (Thu., 1/1/09, 5 PM ABC)
11.1: Illinois/USC (Tue., 1/1/08, 5 PM ABC)
13.9: Michigan/USC (Mon., 1/1/07, 5 PM ABC)
21.7: Texas/USC (Wed., 1/4/06, 8 PM ABC)*
12.4: Michigan/Texas (Sat., 1/1/05, 5 PM ABC)
14.3: Michigan/USC (Thu., 1/1/04, 4:30 PM ABC)
11.3: Oklahoma/Washington St. (Wed., 1/1/03, 4:45 PM ABC)
13.8: Miami/Nebraska (Thu., 1/3/02 ABC)*
14.0: Purdue/Washington (Mon., 1/1/01 ABC)
14.1: Wisconsin/Stanford (Sat., 1/1/00 ABC)
13.3: Wisconsin/UCLA (Fri., 1/1/99 ABC)
