College Football Playoff National Championship: ESPN's Third Highest Overnight Ever across All Sports; WatchESPN Sets New Records

· Birmingham No. 1 Local Market; Six Markets Set Local Rating Records

· College Football Playoff Format Thrives on Digital

ESPN's Megacast presentation of the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T on January 11, 2016 - an Alabama 45-40 victory over Clemson - delivered a 16.0 overnight rating, ESPN's third-best overnight for any game, ever, across all sports. Among the six national championship games ESPN has televised, last night's CFP National Championship scored a higher overnight than the final three BCS National Championships (2011, 2012, 2013 seasons), and trails only last year's inaugural CFP National Championship and ESPN's first ever national championship game (2010 season).

Additional Television Highlights:

· Birmingham was the No. 1 local market, earning a 59.2 overnight, the market's third best overnight for a post season college football game on ESPN. Greenville was the second highest local market, achieving a 39.0, the market's best overnight ever for a post season college football game on ESPN.

· Including Greenville, six markets set a new ESPN post season college football record high: Atlanta (30.1), Charlotte (22.8), Nashville (29.1), Raleigh-Durham (20.2) and Norfolk (18.4)

· The top 10 metered markets: Birmingham (59.2), Greenville (39.0), Atlanta (30.1), Nashville (29.1), Knoxville (28.4), New Orleans (25.6), Jacksonville (24.8), Columbus (23.0), Charlotte (22.8) and West Palm Beach (20.3).

· The traditional telecast on ESPN earned a 15.8 overnight rating

Alabama-Clemson Sets New WatchESPN Records

Digitally, Alabama-Clemson -- presented on multiple streams on WatchESPN through the ESPN Megacast -- ranked as the best game ever on WatchESPN across all major metrics, excluding the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Additionally, the two CFP National Championship games (Ohio State vs. Oregon and Alabama vs. Clemson) represent WatchESPN's two most-streamed games ever on WatchESPN across all major metrics, excluding the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Last night's game experienced a 23% increase in average minute impressions, 38% in unique viewers, and 32% in total minutes compared to the inaugural CFP National Championship:

Rank Average Minute Impressions Game Date
1 585,000 CFP National Championship: Alabama vs. Clemson Jan 11, 2016
2 475,000 CFP National Championship: Ohio State vs. Oregon Jan 12, 2015

Rank Unique Viewers Game Date
1 1,934,000 CFP National Championship: Alabama vs. Clemson Jan 11, 2016
2 1,406,000 CFP National Championship: Ohio State vs. Oregon Jan 12, 2015

Rank Total Minutes Game Date
1 140,300,000 CFP National Championship: Alabama vs. Clemson Jan 11, 2016
2 106,300,000 CFP National Championship: Ohio State vs. Oregon Jan 12, 2015

Also, the first two years of the CFP format (six total games) has resulted in WatchESPN's six most-streamed college football games, in terms of unique viewers:

Rank Unique Viewers Game Date
1 1,934,000 CFP National Championship: Alabama vs. Clemson Jan 11, 2016
2 1,406,000 CFP National Championship: Ohio State vs. Oregon Jan 12, 2015
3 1,188,000 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Clemson Dec 31, 2015
4 1,047,000 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl: Michigan State vs. Alabama Dec 31, 2015
5 912,000 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl: Ohio State vs. Alabama Jan 1, 2015
6 816,000 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Florida State Jan 1, 2015

ESPN Megacast: Overnight rating only accounts for ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU as SEC Network, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic and ESPN Goal Line are not Nielsen rated networks.

Alabama vs. Clemson: Most-Watched Cable Telecast Since Inaugural CFP National Championship

· Sixth Most-Watched Cable Telecast Ever

· ESPN: Aired the Eight Most-Watched Cable Programs Ever; 17 of 20

· WatchESPN delivers strong numbers for CFP, all-season long

ESPN telecast of the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T at 8:30 p.m. ET on January 11, 2016 - an Alabama 45-40 victory over Clemson - averaged 25,667,000 viewers, based on a 14.7 rating, the most-watched cable program since the inaugural CFP National Championship (Jan 12, 2015). Additionally, the audience is the sixth best in the history of cable. As a result, ESPN has now aired the eight most-watched programs in the history of cable television (six national title games and CFP semifinals) and 17 of the top 20 programs.

ESPN Megacast

ESPN's Megacast presentation of the CFP National Championship averaged 26,182,000 viewers, with ESPN2 (Film Room) and ESPNU (Homer Telecast) each averaging more than 225,000 viewers throughout the game. ESPN Deportes added more than 55,000 viewers.

On ESPN3 -- which offered seven exclusive digital feeds -- the Spidercam production was the most popular among fans, based on all major metrics.

On WatchESPN, College Football Delivers for CFP; Continues Season-Long Trend

As noted earlier, last night's national championship set streaming records on WatchESPN, across all sports, excluding the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

When factoring in the WatchESPN's World Cup usage, Alabama-Clemson ranks third all-time in total minutes watched, fifth in unique viewers and sixth in average minute impressions.

Last night's WatchESPN usage is a continued trend of the college football season. Factoring in both the regular season and bowl season, seven of the top 10 most-streamed college football games ever occurred this season and all 10 have occurred over the last 12-months, based on unique viewers.

Rank Unique Viewers Game Date
1 1,934,000 CFP National Championship: Alabama vs. Clemson Jan 11, 2016
2 1,406,000 CFP National Championship: Ohio State vs. Oregon Jan 12, 2015
3 1,188,000 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Clemson Dec 31, 2015
4 1,047,000 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl: Michigan State vs. Alabama Dec 31, 2015
5 912,000 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl: Ohio State vs. Alabama Jan 1, 2015
6 816,000 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Florida State Jan 1, 2015
7 708,000 Ohio State at Virginia Tech Sept 7, 2015
8 697,000 Michigan State at Michigan Oct17, 2015
9 694,000 Florida at LSU Oct 17, 2015
10 693,000 BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State Jan 1, 2016

ESPN Megacast: TV Viewership only available for ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Deportes as SEC Network, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic and ESPN Goal Line are not Nielsen rated networks.

Alabama-Clemson Reair Information

The 2016 College Football Playoff Championship Presented by AT&T will reair on ESPNU and SEC Network this week in a variety of formats.

The traditional telecast airs on SEC Network Wednesday (noon) and Friday (9 a.m., 10 p.m.), and also on ESPNU on Friday (1 p.m.). ESPNU's Homer Telecast Megacast offering - featuring Joe Tessitore and Kaylee Hartung calling the game from the sidelines with Alabama "Homer" Barrett Jones and Clemson "Homer" Tajh Boyd - reairs on ESPNU, Thursday (1 p.m.) and on SEC Network for the first time, Friday (noon).

ESPN2's Megacast offering of the coaches CFP Coaches Film Room airs on ESPNU on Wednesday (1 p.m.) with five head coaches commenting on the game live -Larry Fedora (North Carolina), Jim McElwain (Florida), Will Muschamp (South Carolina), Pat Narduzzi (Pittsburgh),and Willie Taggart (South Florida).

SEC Network closes out the options with guest analyst Bret Bielema (Arkansas Head Coach) joining analysts Greg McElroy and Booger McFarland, along with Paul Finebaum and his host of callers in Finebaum Film Room, reairing Thursday (noon).