College football bowl ratings continue to trend downward. In other news, college hoops was mixed on CBS last weekend, the UFC on FOX hit another low, and the NCAA women’s volleyball championship hit a four-year high.
St. Petersburg Bowl Latest to Hit Low
Thursday’s Temple-FIU St. Petersburg Bowl earned 1.6 million viewers on ESPN, down 22% from last year Mississippi State-Miami (Ohio) last year (2.0M), down a third from Marshall-UConn in 2015 (2.4M), and the smallest audience for the game since 2013 (ECU-Ohio: 1.3M). Ratings were not immediately available.
It was the fifth of seven bowls through Thursday to hit a multi-year low. Not coincidentally, it was also the fourth bowl game decided by 20 or more points (Temple won by 25). Of those four routs, only the Frisco Bowl — which moved from the afternoon to primetime — managed an increase.
Mixed Weekend For College Hoops on CBS
Last Saturday’s Syracuse-Georgetown college basketball game had a 0.8 rating and 1.16 million viewers on CBS, up a tick in ratings and 4% in viewership from last year (Memphis-Oklahoma: 0.7, 1.11M), and flat and down 3% respectively from 2015 (UCLA-UNC: 0.8, 1.19M). Later in the day, Cincinnati-UCLA had a mere 0.6 (-50%) and 832,000 (-53%).
Over on FOX, Notre Dame-Indiana had a 0.6 and 913,000 and Purdue-Butler a 0.49 and 719,000.
UFC on FOX Ratings Low Again
UFC on FOX 26 scored a 1.3 rating and 2.1 million viewers last Saturday, up a tick in ratings and 3% in viewership from the previous edition of UFC on FOX in July (1.2, 2.0M) but 28% and 34% respectively from last year’s December card (1.8, 3.2M).
Overall, it earned the fourth-smallest UFC audience ever on FOX (28 telecasts dating back to 2011). The four UFC on FOX cards this year rank among the five least-watched in the history of the series.
NCAA Women’s Volleyball Title Game Hits High
Last Saturday’s Nebraska-Florida NCAA women’s volleyball championship had a 0.52 rating and 1.009 million viewers on ESPN2, up 57% in ratings and 75% in viewership from last year (Stanford-Texas: 0.33, 576K) and up 8% and 23% respectively from 2015 (Nebraska-Texas: 0.40, 820K). It was the most-watched title game since Penn State-Wisconsin in 2013 (1.020M).
[Numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 12.19]
