or


[12/30/18 - 08:13 AM]
College Football Playoff Semifinals Continue to Deliver Strong Ratings for ESPN; Rank Among Top Cable Presentations of the Year
ESPN spins the numbers for Saturday, December 29.

[via press release from ESPN]

College Football Playoff Semifinals Continue to Deliver Strong Ratings for ESPN; Rank among Top Cable Presentations of the Year

· Capital One Orange Bowl Delivers 10.4 Overnight; Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic 10.3

· Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Delivers Its Highest-Non Semifinal Overnight of the CFP Era

· Birmingham is Highest-Rated Market for All Three Games; More than 50% of Market Watches Crimson Tide's Victory

The College Football Playoff Semifinals delivered strong ratings for ESPN once again, as the Capital One Orange Bowl featuring Alabama's 45-34 victory over Oklahoma (8 p.m. ET) earned a 10.4 overnight and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, which Clemson controlled and defeated Notre Dame 30-3 (4 p.m.), delivered a 10.3 overnight. The two overnight ratings, which account for ESPN's MegaCast offering, will finish among the top six highest-rated cable presentations of 2018 - a top six which features all five CFP games that were played in the calendar year (CFP Semifinals on January 1 and CFP National Championship on January 8).

Significant, Early Leads Result in First Half Peak Ratings for Both Games

ESPN earned two of cable's best overnights of the year despite both games' ratings peaking in the first half. The Orange Bowl peaked at an 11.8 when Alabama jumped out to a 14-0 lead with more than five minutes to go in the first quarter (8:30-8:45 p.m.), a lead that the Crimson Tide would increase to 31-10 before halftime. The Cotton Bowl peaked at an 11.2 when Clemson scored seconds before halftime, giving the Tigers a 23-3 advantage going into the break (5:30-5:45 p.m.).

CFP Semifinals See Ratings Growth from Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl's First CFP Semifinals

Both overnights were up from the 2015 season's CFP Semifinals, the only other time that the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl hosted the CFP Semifinals. This year's early game was up 5% from 2015 and the late game up 4% from the same year.

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Delivers a New High

The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl delivered the bowl's highest non-Semifinal rating of the CFP era. Florida's defeat of Michigan (noon) earned a 5.3 overnight, up 4% from last year's game, which was played directly before the CFP Semifinals, and up 33% from the previously mentioned 2015 year.

Birmingham is No. 1 Local Market for all Three Games; More than 50% of the Market Watched Alabama's Convincing Victory

Birmingham was the highest-rated market for all three games, including delivering a 51.3 overnight for the Crimson Tide's victory. The top 10 market for each game:

Capital One Orange Bowl
Rank Market Rating
1 Birmingham 51.3
2 Tulsa 31.5
3 Oklahoma City 30.7
4 Greenville, SC 23.3
5 Nashville 20.5
6 Knoxville 20.2
7 Columbus, 20.2
8 New Orleans 19.9
9 Atlanta 17.4
10 Jacksonville 15.6

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
Rank Market Rating
1 Birmingham 31.3
2 Greenville 26.4
3 Oklahoma City 19.7
4 New Orleans 19.5
5 Tulsa 19.0
6 Columbus 18.9
7 Nashville 17.8
8 Knoxville 17.7
9 Dayton 16.6
10 Atlanta 15.9

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Rank Market Rating
1 Birmingham 19.3
2 Detroit 14.8
3 Columbus 12.5
4 Jacksonville 11.8
5 Dayton 11.0
6 Tampa-St. Pete 10.7
7 New Orleans 10.6
8 Nashville 10.0
9 Tulsa 9.8
10 Knoxville 9.7

ESPN's MegaCast Presentation Includes ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS; The 2018 Top Cable Lists Includes a Tie at No. 6.





  [december 2018]  
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
[10/24/25 - 02:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's Most-Watched Newsmagazine Across the Board
In addition, "20/20" posted its best Adults 25-54 in more than four months.

[10/24/25 - 02:01 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 Across the Board, Leading NBC in All Key Demos for the 4th Straight Week
"Nightline" grew year to year across the board: Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/24/25 - 01:05 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Makes Television History - Rising for Fifth Straight Week
The October 21 episode scored 6.63 million Total Viewers and a 1.38 rating among Adults 18-49, hitting new season highs in both demographics.

[10/23/25 - 02:33 PM]
Largest Audience for "NBA Tip-Off" Doubleheader Since 2010 as NBA Returned to NBC and Debuted on Peacock
Tuesday night's audience across NBC and Peacock peaked at 7.1 million viewers from 10:45-11 p.m. ET as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder to a one-point win over the Houston Rockets in double overtime.

[10/23/25 - 11:28 AM]
"High Potential" Rises to Season High as Show Nears Fall Finale
ABC's popular drama rose to a multiplatform season high in Total Viewers (12.50 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.31 rating) after seven days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms.

[10/22/25 - 03:06 PM]
FOX Sports Delivers Most-Watched ALCS Game Since 2017
9,028,000 viewers tuned in across FOX, FS1, FOX Deportes & FOX Sports streaming services for the Toronto Blue Jays' ALCS Game 7 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

[10/22/25 - 08:07 AM]
ESPN College Football on ABC Delivers Top Three Games Across All Networks for Saturday, Oct. 18 - Off to Best Start Since '09
Coverage of Ole Miss at Georgia averaged 9.8 million viewers.

[10/22/25 - 08:03 AM]
FOX NFL's America's Game of the Week Delivers 25,630,000 Average Viewers for Commanders-Cowboys
Season-to-date, the NFL on FOX is off to its best start to the season since 2014, averaging 19,646,000 viewers and up +4% over last year's season-to-date average.

[10/22/25 - 07:44 AM]
"9-1-1: Nashville" Debuts with Over 12 Million Total Audience to Date
The star-studded, high-octane first-responder drama delivered 7.80 million Total Viewers and 1.51 rating among Adults 18-49, excluding encores.

[10/22/25 - 06:21 AM]
ABC's Telecast of Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix Draws Event's Largest TV Audience on Record
Viewership peaked at 1.6 million between 4:15-4:30 p.m. as Max Verstappen drove to victory, further tightening up the battle for the F1 driver's championship with only five races left in the season.

[10/21/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of October 13: "The Woman in Cabin 10" Sails Smoothly to No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
In the final stretch to Halloween, those lured in by the story of the OG horror villain put "Monster: The Ed Gein Story" at No. 1 on the English TV list with 9.5 million views.

[10/17/25 - 01:16 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Hits Season Highs with Best Audience Performance Since July
"Live" has now ranked as the No. 1 talk show in syndication for 139 consecutive weeks across all key measures.

[10/17/25 - 10:38 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Continues Historic Hot Streak - Rising for Fourth Straight Week Since Premiere with 6 Million Total Viewers
Plus: "High Potential" dominated the 10 p.m. hour with 4.15 million Total Viewers and a 0.33 rating among Adults 18-49.

[10/16/25 - 06:01 AM]
ESPN's Monumental 2025 WNBA Season Sets New Viewership Records
Across all networks, the 2025 WNBA Postseason was the most-viewed since 1999.

[10/15/25 - 04:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Program on Broadcast TV
"20/20" increased its lead week to week over "Dateline" in Total Viewers to post its largest of the season.