Ratings and viewership for the 2009-10 college football bowl season.
34 bowl games across ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, FOX, CBS and NFL Network averaged 6.6 million viewers, up 11% from 6 million for last year’s bowl season.
To put that in perspective, the 2009 Major League Baseball postseason averaged 9 million viewers on TBS and FOX, the 2009 NCAA Tournament averaged 8.9 million on CBS, and the 2009 NBA Playoffs averaged 5.4 million on TNT, ESPN and ABC.
ABC led the way with a 12.4 rating and 22.2 million viewers for its three bowl games (Capital One, Rose, National Championship Game), up 36% and 40%, respectively, from last year (9.1, 15.8 mil), and the network’s most-viewed bowl season since at least 1990. ABC did not air the National Championship Game last year.
The four bowl games on FOX (Sugar, Cotton, Fiesta and Orange) averaged a 7.0 rating and 11.8 million viewers, down 21% and 19%, respectively, from last year (8.8, 14.6 mil). Last year, FOX aired the National Championship Game.
CBS’ two bowl games (Sun and Gator) averaged a 3.6 rating and 5.7 million viewers, up 13% in ratings and 12% in viewers from last year (3.2, 5.1 mil).
ESPN averaged a 2.7 U.S. rating and 4.3 million viewers for its 22 bowl games, up 4% and 8%, respectively, from last year (2.6, 4.0 mil), and the network’s most-viewed bowl season ever. The Alamo Bowl was the most-viewed bowl game ever on the network (7.8 mil), while the Emerald Bowl was the third-most viewed (7.6 mil). Overall, 7 of ESPN’s bowl games rank among the 25 most-viewed ever on the network.
ESPN2’s two bowl games averaged a 1.6 U.S. rating and 2.5 million viewers, up 7% in ratings and 16% in viewers from last year (1.5, 2.2 mil). The Independence Bowl (3.3 mil) ranks as ESPN2’s most-viewed bowl game ever.
Bringing up the rear was NFL Network, whose coverage of the Insight Bowl drew a 0.4 U.S. rating and 673,000 viewers.
Ratings/viewership for college football bowls
| Date | Bowl | Result | Net | Rating | Viewers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., 12/19/09 | New Mexico | Wyoming 35 | ESPN |
2.4
|
3,597
|
| Fresno St. 28 (2OT) | |||||
| St. Petersburg | Rutgers 45 | ESPN |
1.6
|
2,469
|
|
| UCF 24 | |||||
| Sun., 12/20/09 | New Orleans | M. Tenn 42 | ESPN |
0.7
|
993
|
| S. Miss 32 | |||||
| Tue., 12/22/09 | Las Vegas | BYU 44 | ESPN |
2.2
|
3,540
|
| Oregon St. 20 | |||||
| Wed., 12/23/09 | Poinsettia | Utah 37 | ESPN |
2.4
|
3,736
|
| Cal 27 | |||||
| Thu., 12/24/09 | Hawaii | SMU 45 | ESPN |
1.7
|
2,938
|
| Nevada 10 | |||||
| Sat., 12/26/09 | Little Caesars | Marshall 21 | ESPN |
2.6
|
3,809
|
| Ohio 17 | |||||
| Meineke Car Care | Pittsburgh 19 | ESPN |
3.9
|
6,131
|
|
| UNC 17 | |||||
| Emerald | USC 24 | ESPN |
4.6
|
7,563
|
|
| BC 13 | |||||
| Sun., 12/27/09 | Music City | Clemson 21 | ESPN |
1.7
|
2,790
|
| Kentucky 13 | |||||
| Mon., 12/28/09 | Independence | Georgia 44 | ESPN2 |
2.0
|
3,276
|
| Texas A&M 20 | |||||
| Tue., 12/29/09 | EagleBank | UCLA 30 | ESPN |
1.9
|
2,759
|
| Temple 21 | |||||
| Champs Sports | Wisconsin 20 | ESPN |
3.9
|
6,217
|
|
| Miami 14 | |||||
| Wed., 12/30/09 | Humanitarian | Idaho 43 | ESPN |
2.1
|
3,014
|
| Bowling Green 42 | |||||
| Holiday | Nebraska 33 | ESPN |
3.7
|
6,138
|
|
| Arizona 0 | |||||
| Thu., 12/31/09 | Armed Forces | Air Force 47 | ESPN |
1.6
|
2,168
|
| Houston 20 | |||||
| Sun | Oklahoma 31 | CBS |
3.3
|
5,022
|
|
| Stanford 27 | |||||
| Texas | Navy 35 | ESPN |
2.1
|
3,191
|
|
| Missouri 13 | |||||
| Insight | Iowa St. 14 | NFLN |
0.4
|
673
|
|
| Minnesota 13 | |||||
| Chick-Fil-A | Virginia Tech 37 | ESPN |
4.2
|
7,513
|
|
| Tennessee 14 | |||||
| Fri., 1/1/10 | Outback | Auburn 38 | ESPN |
3.5
|
5,685
|
| Northwestern 35 (OT) | |||||
| Capital One | Penn St. 19 | ABC |
6.8
|
11,631
|
|
| LSU 17 | |||||
| Gator | Florida St. 33 | CBS |
3.9
|
6,408
|
|
| West Virginia 21 | |||||
| Rose | Ohio St. 26 | ABC |
13.2
|
24,025
|
|
| Oregon 17 | |||||
| Sugar | Florida 51 | FOX |
8.5
|
15,533
|
|
| Cincinnati 24 | |||||
| Sat., 1/2/10 | International | USF 27 | ESPN2 |
1.1
|
1,613
|
| Northern Illinois 3 | |||||
| Papajohns.com | Connecticut 20 | ESPN |
1.6
|
2,448
|
|
| South Carolina 7 | |||||
| Cotton | Mississippi 21 | FOX |
4.5
|
7,250
|
|
| Oklahoma St. 7 | |||||
| Liberty | Arkansas 20 | ESPN |
3.8
|
6,449
|
|
| ECU 17 (OT) | |||||
| Alamo | Texas Tech 41 | ESPN |
4.8
|
7,829
|
|
| Michigan St. 31 | |||||
| Mon., 1/4/10 | Fiesta | Boise St. 17 | FOX |
8.2
|
13,819
|
| TCU 10 | |||||
| Tue., 1/5/10 | Orange | Iowa 24 | FOX |
6.8
|
10,879
|
| Georgia Tech 14 | |||||
| Wed., 1/6/10 | GMAC | Central Mich. 44 | ESPN |
2.4
|
3,518
|
| Troy 41 (2 OT) | |||||
| Thu., 1/7/10 | BCS Nat’l Champ. Game | Alabama 37 | ABC |
17.2
|
30,776
|
| Texas 21 |
