or


[01/07/14 - 07:09 AM]
2014 BCS National Championship Averages 15.7 Overnight Rating
ESPN spins the numbers for Monday, January 6.

[via press release from ESPN]

2014 BCS National Championship Averages 15.7 Overnight Rating

Five-Game Combined Average for BCS Bowls Up 10 Percent from 2013

ESPN's "BCS Megacast" coverage of the VIZIO BCS National Championship - No. 1 Florida State over No. 2 Auburn 34-31 on Monday, Jan. 6 - averaged a 15.7 overnight rating across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS (the additional eight production variations do not receive overnights). The ESPN-only telecast averaged a 15.3 overnight rating.

This metered-market rating - the highest for all of cable television since the January 2013 BCS National Championship on ESPN - helped drive the network's five-game BCS average to a 9.9 metered market rating, marking a 10 percent increase over a 9.0 rating for last year's five games. The game was also the highest-rated program on Monday, helping ESPN win the night among all networks.

Birmingham led all markets for the telecast with a 55.8 rating, marking the third highest-rated bowl game on ESPN in the market behind the 2011 and 2012 BCS Championships. Jacksonville was the second highest-rated market with a 31.1 rating followed by Knoxville (26.6), Atlanta (25.8), Orlando (24.9), Tampa-St. Petersburg (24.2), Memphis (24.1), Greenville (24.0), Nashville (23.5) and Charlotte (22.2). In addition to being among the top 10 markets, the title matchup was also the highest-rated bowl on ESPN in Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa-St. Petersburg. All market records date to 2000.

ESPN's telecast of the 2014 VIZIO BCS National Championship was the biggest production of a college football game to date with a different viewing option across six of its television platforms as well as audio and digital outlets. The "BCS Megacast" presentation featured multiple ESPN personalities, and guest coaches, players and celebrities for coverage across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio, ESPN3, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Goal Line and ESPN International.

ESPNU will offer an encore presentation of the "BCS Film Room" option from ESPNEWS today at 4 p.m. ET. The telecast featured Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin, Pitt coach Paul Chryst and Boston College coach Steve Addazio as well as ESPN analysts Matt Millen, Chris Spielman and Tom Luginbill providing in-depth X and O analysis of the game as it happened from a film room equipped with multiple camera angles and touchscreens.

BCS National Championship: Cable's Third Largest Audience Ever

· "BCS Megacast" Garners 26 Million Viewers

· Five-Game BCS Viewership up 9 Percent

· BCS & Megacast Draw Largest Audience Ever on WatchESPN

ESPN's "BCS Megacast" presentation of the VIZIO BCS National Championship - No. 1 Florida State over No. 2 Auburn 34-31 on Monday, Jan. 6 - garnered 26,061,000 viewers and a 14.8 US HH rating across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS (television ratings for the additional five platforms offering coverage are not available). The ESPN telecast of the matchup is the third largest audience of any program in cable television history, averaging 25,572,000 viewers and a US HH 14.4 Fast National rating.

In addition to the television audience, WatchESPN generated 773,000 unique viewers and an average minute audience of 252,000 for fans that viewed the BCS Megacast across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN3 and ESPN Goal Line collectively.

WatchESPN saw significant growth in fans that turned to the digital platform to experience the traditional telecast and Megacast. Live access to the game itself on ESPN generated 553,000 unique viewers (a 53 percent increase), 33,600,000 live minutes viewed (90 percent increase) and a 160,000 average minute audience (69 percent increase), over the 2013 BCS National Championship. The BCS Megacast was the best event ever on WatchESPN with 52,000,000 total minutes for a 199 percent increase over fans that watched the traditional production in 2013.

The only two larger audiences in cable television history are ESPN's coverage of the 2011 and 2013 BCS National Championships: 27,316,000 viewers for Auburn's 22-19 victory over Oregon in 2011 and 26,380,000 viewers for the Alabama's 42-14 win over Notre Dame in 2013.

Five-Game BCS Average

ESPN's presentation of the five BCS bowl games averaged 16,549,000 viewers and a 9.4 US HH rating, up nine percent (vs. 15,131,000) and 7 percent (vs. 8.8), respectively, over last year's five BCS games. Across all five BCS bowl games, WatchESPN averaged 329,000 live unique viewers (up 52 percent), 20,300,000 live minutes viewed (up 86 percent) and an average minute audience of 92,000 (up 64%).

Third Highest-Rated Game in Birmingham

Birmingham led all markets for the telecast with a 55.8 rating, marking the third highest-rated bowl game on ESPN in the market behind the 2011 and 2012 BCS Championships. Jacksonville was the second highest-rated market with a 31.1 rating followed by Knoxville (26.6), Atlanta (25.8), Orlando (24.9), Tampa-St. Petersburg (24.2), Memphis (24.1), Greenville (24.0), Nashville (23.5) and Charlotte (22.2). In addition to being among the top 10 markets, the title matchup was also the highest-rated bowl on ESPN in Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa-St. Petersburg. All market records date to 2000.

BCS Megacast & ESPNU Encore Presentation

ESPN's telecast of the 2014 VIZIO BCS National Championship was the biggest production of a college football game to date with a different viewing option across six of its television platforms as well as audio and digital outlets. The "BCS Megacast" presentation featured multiple ESPN personalities, and guest coaches, players and celebrities for coverage across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN Radio, ESPN3, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Goal Line and ESPN International.

ESPNU will offer an encore presentation of the "BCS Film Room" option from ESPNEWS today at 4 p.m. ET and on Thursday, Jan. 9, at 1 p.m. The telecast featured Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin, Pitt coach Paul Chryst and Boston College coach Steve Addazio as well as ESPN analysts Matt Millen, Chris Spielman and Tom Luginbill providing in-depth X and O analysis of the game as it happened from a film room equipped with multiple camera angles and touchscreens.





  [january 2014]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
   


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[06/27/25 - 02:29 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Gears Up for Summer Rising Week to Week in All Key Measures
Wednesday, June 11, was the most-viewed day of the week among Total Viewers (2.164 million).

[06/27/25 - 10:31 AM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tops Late-Night in Adults 18-49 for Third Week in a Row
Winning three of five nights in Kimmel's final week before summer guest hosts, Thursday, June 19, was the show's strongest night among Adults 18-49 (0.35 rating).

[06/25/25 - 11:55 AM]
Prime Video Finishes Groundbreaking First Season of Exclusive NASCAR Coverage
According to Nielsen, NASCAR on Prime posted a season average of 2.16 million viewers (AMA P2+) across five events, and attracted droves of younger viewers to its live coverage.

[06/25/25 - 07:58 AM]
ABC News Primetime Special "Karen Read: The Verdict - A Special Edition of 20/20" Ranks #1 Across All of Broadcast and Cable in Adults 18-49
Plus: "Karen Read: The Verdict" placed No. 1 based on views among all titles on Hulu on Thursday (6/19), Friday (6/20) and Saturday (6/21).

[06/24/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Target Demos 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" for 2nd Consecutive Week, and Claims Top Spot in Total Viewers for the 5th Straight Week
On Monday (6/16/25), "Nightline" scored its most-watched telecast (1.112 million) in 5 months.

[06/24/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 16: "Tyler Perry's Straw" Leads Top 10 for Third Week, "The Waterfront" Swims to No. 1
Plus: "Ginny & Georgia" Season 3 racked up another 8.1 million views and felt peachy keen at No. 2, while Season 2 landed at No. 8 and Season 1 at No. 10, with an additional 2.7 million views each.

[06/24/25 - 08:42 AM]
Third Most-Watched WNBA Game Ever on ESPN: Indiana Fever vs Las Vegas Aces Averaged 1.7 Million Viewers, Up 52% from Last Year's ESPN Average
Said coverage peaked at 2.2 million viewers.

[06/23/25 - 12:09 PM]
Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Game 7 on ABC and ESPN+ Is Most-Watched NBA Finals Game in Six Years
The seven-game series averaged 10,266,000 viewers and delivered the seven most-watched broadcasts on all of television since the first week of May.

[06/18/25 - 09:01 AM]
Murder Mystery May Drives Acorn TV to the Most Successful Month In Its History
Total hours watched surpassed 20 million for the first time in Acorn TV history, with unique engaged subscribers also achieving an all-time high, up double digits from the streamer's average over the past 12 months.

[06/17/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
On Wednesday, "Nightline" scored its most-watched telecast (1.049 million) in 5 months and strongest delivery in Adults 25-54 (404,000) in 1 year.

[06/17/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 9: "Tyler Perry's Straw" Has Biggest Week for a Film in 2025
"Ginny & Georgia's" third season maintained its No. 1 spot on the English TV List with 16.9 million views, as fans saw their favorite characters pushed "to the limit."

[06/17/25 - 07:27 AM]
ESPN Delivered Third Most-Watched WNBA Game Ever on ABC: New York Liberty Vs Indiana Fever Averaged 2.2 Million Viewers, Up 76% from Last Year's ABC Average
Said coverage peaked at 2.8 million viewers.

[06/10/25 - 04:46 PM]
Premiere Episode of NBC's New Unscripted Series "Destination X" Is Now Up to 4.2 Million Viewers Across All Platforms
To date, the series has reached more than 9 million viewers across all platforms.

[06/10/25 - 02:18 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" for the 3rd Consecutive Week
On Thursday, "Nightline" scored its strongest telecast in Adults 25-54 (259,000) in nearly 3 months and best Adults 18-49 delivery (202,000) in 5 months.

[06/10/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 2: "Straw" Moves Viewers, "Ginny & Georgia" Has Peachy Season 3 Premiere in Top 10
Plus: UK crime thriller "Dept. Q" cracked the code and climbed to No. 2 in its second week (8.9 million views).