College football bowl viewership trended up, at least on ESPN/ABC, this season.
The ESPN family of networks combined to average 5.7 million viewers for 35 bowl games this season, up 11% from last year. 21 of those 35 games posted increases. ESPN Nielsen ratings now include streaming viewership on TV devices; comparisons are to last year’s TV-only numbers.
Of the three non-ESPN bowls (on a Nielsen rated network), each declined by double-digits and none exceeded 2.2 million.
Bowls hitting multi-year highs this season: Armed Forces (record high), Orange (since 2008*), Las Vegas (since 2012), Cotton (since 2013*), Peach (since 2013*), Fiesta (since 2013*), Idaho (since 2013), Pinstripe (since 2013), Hawaii (since 2013), Orlando (since 2014), Hawaii (since 2013), Birmingham (since 2015), Rose (since 2015), Sugar (since 2015), National Championship (since 2015). * Excluding playoff games.
Bowls hitting multi-year lows: Holiday (lowest on record), Boca Raton (record low), Bahamas (lowest ever), New Mexico (since at least 2005), Alamo (since 2007), New Orleans (since 2009), Texas (since 2009), Belk (since 2010), San Francisco (since 2012), Military (since 2012), St. Petersburg (since 2013), Music City (since 2013), Camellia (since 2014), Mobile (since 2015).
The full college football ratings page is available here.
College Football Bowl Ratings, Viewership
Viewership in (parentheses): TV+streaming
Comparisons in [brackets]: TV+streaming vs. TV only
Playoff games compared to last year’s playoff games
| BOWL | GAME | RTG | VWRS | +/- | DATE/TIME | NET |
| CFPNC | ALA-UGA | 15.6 | (28.443M) | +9% | 1/8, 8:00 PM | ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU |
| Rose (Semi) | UGA-OKLA | 13.7 | (26.913M) | +36% | 1/1, 5:00 PM | ESPN & ESPN2 |
| Sugar (Semi) | ALA-CLEM | 11.4 | (21.473M) | +9% | 1/1, 9:00 PM | ESPN & ESPN2 |
| Orange | WISC-MIA | 6.3 | (11.727M) | +0.3% | 12/30, 8:00 PM | ESPN |
| Fiesta | PSU-WASH | 5.7 | (10.167M) | +18% | 12/30, 4:00 PM | ESPN |
| Cotton | OSU-USC | 5.3 | (9.468M) | +71% | 12/29, 8:00 PM | ESPN |
| Citrus | ND-LSU | 5.1 | (8.713M) | [+37%] | 1/1, 1:00 PM | ABC |
| Peach | UCF-AUB | 4.6 | (8.377M) | +46% | 1/1, 12:30 PM | ESPN |
| Outback | SC-MICH | 2.8 | (5.050M) | [-17%] | 1/1, Noon | ESPN2 |
| Music City | NWSTN-UK | 2.8 | (4.626M) | [-8%] | 12/29, 5:15 PM | ESPN |
| Gator | MSST-LVILLE | 2.7 | (4.424M) | [+67%] | 12/30, Noon | ESPN |
| Alamo | TCU-STAN | 2.5 | (4.368M) | [-5%] | 12/28, 9:00 PM | ESPN |
| Orlando | OKST-VT | 2.6 | (4.358M) | [+2%] | 12/28, 5:15 PM | ESPN |
| Pinstripe | IOWA-BC | 2.3 | (4.008M) | [+64%] | 12/27, 5:15 PM | ESPN |
| Liberty | ISU-MEM | 2.2 | 3.438M | +10% | 12/30, 12:30 PM | ABC |
| Texas | TEX-MIZ | 2.1 | (3.455M) | [-10%] | 12/27, 9:00 PM | ESPN |
| Las Vegas | BOISE-ORE | 2.3 | 3.801M | +2% | 12/16, 3:30 PM | ABC |
| Armed Forces | ARMY-SDSU | 2.1 | (3.485M) | [+49%] | 12/23. 4:00 PM | ESPN |
| Birmingham | USF-TTU | 2.15 | (3.397M) | [+47%] | 12/23, Noon | ESPN |
| Cactus | KST-UCLA | n.a. | (3.261M) | [+43%] | 12/26, 9:00 PM | ESPN |
| Belk | WAKE-TA&M | n.a. | (2.957M) | [-40%] | 12/29, 1:00 PM | ESPN |
| Detroit | DUKE-NIU | n.a. | (2.526M) | [-16%] | 12/26, 5:15 PM | ESPN |
| Celebration | NCA&T-GRAM | 1.6 | 2.357M | -13% | 12/16, Noon | ABC |
| Independence | FSU-USM | n.a. | (2.205M) | [+35%] | 12/27, 1:30 PM | ESPN |
| Sun | NCST-ASU | 1.5 | 2.205M | [-25%] | 12/29, 3:15 PM | CBS |
| Dallas | UTAH-WVU | n.a. | (2.204M) | [+36%] | 12/26, 1:30 PM | ESPN |
| San Fran. | PUR-ARIZ | n.a. | 2.139M | -19% | 12/27, 8:30 PM | FOX |
| Hawaii | FRES-HOU | 1.1 | (2.086M) | [+53%] | 12/24, 8:30 PM | ESPN |
| Military | NAVY-UVA | n.a. | (2.052M) | [-2%] | 12/28, 1:30 PM | ESPN |
| Mobile | APPST-TOL | 1.0 | (1.770M) | [-30%] | 12/23, 7:00 PM | ESPN |
| Holiday | MSU-WSU | n.a. | 1.613M | -60% | 12/28, 9:00 PM | FS1 |
| St. Pete | TEMP-FIU | 1.0 | (1.597M) | [-22%] | 12/21, 8:00 PM | ESPN |
| Idaho | WYO-CMU | n.a. | (1.497M) | [+31%] | 12/22, 4:00 PM | ESPN |
| FCS Champ. | NDSU-JMU | 1.0 | (1.515M) | [-3%] | 1/6, Noon | ESPN2 |
| Boca Raton | FAU-AKRON | n.a. | (1.394M) | [-12%] | 12/19, 7:00 PM | ESPN |
| New Orleans | TROY-NTX | 0.9 | (1.327M) | [-1%] | 12/16, 1:00 PM | ESPN |
| Frisco | LATECH-SMU | n.a. | (1.250M) | [+57%] | 12/20, 8:00 PM | ESPN |
| New Mexico | MARSH-CSU | 0.75 | (1.212M) | [-13%] | 12/16, 4:50 PM | ESPN |
| Camellia | MTSU-AKST | 0.7 | (1.187M) | [-20%] | 12/16, 8:30 PM | ESPN |
| Bahamas | OHIO-UAB | n.a. | (882K) | [-36%] | 12/22, 12:30 PM | ESPN |
| Div II Champ. |
TA&MC-WFLA | 0.36 | (626K) | [+84%] | 12/16, 6:00 PM | ESPN2 |
