or


[01/08/19 - 08:01 AM]
College Football Playoff National Championship Delivers Cable's Best Overnight in 12 Months
ESPN spins the numbers for Monday, January 7.

[via press release from ESPN]

College Football Playoff National Championship Delivers Cable's Best Overnight in 12 Months

· MegaCast Presentation Earns 14.6 Overnight Despite Most-Lopsided CFP National Championship Game in the Era's History

· Ratings Followed Similar Pace to Most-Recent Alabama-Clemson CFP National Championship through Three Quarters

· New Year's Six + CFP National Championship Up 8% from Era's Second Year, Matches Third Year

The College Football Playoff National Championship between Alabama-Clemson on January 7, 2019 (8 p.m. ET) - which featured College Football Playoff's largest margin of victory for its final game ever (28 points) - delivered cable's highest overnight in 12 months (January 8, 2018 - January 7, 2019), as Clemson's victory earned a 14.6 overnight across ESPN's presentation*. The CFP National Championship rating peaked at a 16.2 overnight in the first half when the Tigers extended their lead to 15 points.

Rating Followed Similar Pace of Last Alabama-Clemson CFP National Championship through Three Quarters

Through three quarters (8:15-11:15 p.m.), last night's rating tracked similarly to Clemson and Alabama's most recent CFP National Championship game in January 2017, despite Clemson extending its lead to 28 points in the third quarter. In the 2017 game, the Tigers trailed by 10 points entering the third quarter before coming back to win in the final seconds of the game. Last night, the Tigers achieved the largest margin of victory for any college football national championship game since 2005**.

This Season's College Football Playoff Delivers Cable's Three Best Overnights in Last 12 Months

Clemson's victory concludes a 10-day period in which the College Football Playoff on ESPN delivered cable's three best overnights in the past 12 months (January 8, 2018 - January 7, 2019), despite an average margin of victory of 22 points in the three games. As a result, this season continued the trend of the College Football Playoff delivering top cable ratings each year, as this year's CFP games join last year's three games in delivering six of the last seven highest cable overnights.

New Year's Six + CFP National Championship Generates Stronger Ratings than Second Year of System, Matches Third Year

This season's New Year's Six plus the CFP National Championship averaged a 9.0 overnight, up 8% from the second year of the CFP era and matching the third year of the system - both years, like this season, in which the CFP Semifinals were not played on New Year's Day. Those previous two years also featured an Alabama-Clemson CFP National Championship game.

Birmingham is No. 1 Local Market

Birmingham led the way among local markets, with an impressive 56.6 overnight. The top 10 markets:

Rank Market Rating
1 Birmingham 56.6
2 Greenville 36.9
3 New Orleans 28.6
4 Atlanta 25.5
5 Knoxville 25.4
6 Nashville 24.3
7 Charlotte 23.4
8 Columbus, OH 23.2
9 Jacksonville 22.2
10 Tulsa 20.8

*ESPN's MegaCast Presentation offered multiple productions for the game; however, only Nielsen-rated networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPNEWS) are represented in the overnight for all years. ESPN Classic, and SEC Network are not rated and thus not accounted for in this release. Additionally, ESPN3 streaming numbers are also not accounted for here.

**2012 contest between Alabama-Notre Dame also had a 28 point margin of victory

CFP National Championship: Audience is Reported at 25.2 Million and will Continue to Grow; More Fans Watched Alabama-Clemson This Season than Same Matchup Two Seasons Ago

· MegaCast Presentation Earns Likely Top 10 Cable Audience Ever Despite Most-Lopsided National Championship Game in CFP History

· Viewership Peaked at Nearly 28 Million Viewers in First Half

· New Year's Six + CFP National Championship Up 12% from Era's Second Year

More fans tuned into last night's Alabama-Clemson College Football Playoff National Championship than the same matchup in the 2017 CFP National Championship -- despite Clemson's 28-point lopsided victory this season compared to their game-winning touchdown in the final seconds two years ago -- final initial Nielsen reported numbers are expected to show.

Alabama-Clemson on January 7, 2019 (8 p.m. ET) has generated a Nielsen reported audience of 25.2 million viewers to date as part of ESPN's MegaCast presentation*. The reported audience number at this time doesn't include a large percentage of the streaming audience (approx. 30-40%) nor any of the ESPNEWS television audience, and is already in line with the final Nielsen reported number for the aforementioned 2017 CFP National Championship game (25.3 million). The ESPNEWS audience will be available later today and full streaming information reported the week of January 14. Additionally, out-of-home viewing will also be released by Nielsen in the coming weeks, further adding to last night's reported audience number. More on Nielsen reporting structure is accessible here.

Among Cable's Most-Watched Television Programs Ever

The 2019 CFP National Championship audience is expected to be among cable's 10 highest ever once Nielsen reporting is completed.

Audience Peaks at Nearly 28 Million in the First Half

The viewership peaked at 27,839,000 million viewers in the first half as the Tigers extended their lead to 15 points.

New Year's Six + CFP National Championship Audience up 12% from Year Two

The audience for the New Year's Six + CFP National Championship has generated a Nielsen reported average of 15,413,000 which is already 12% better than the same set of games in the CFP's second year despite not having the full Nielsen reported number. In both instances, the New Year's Six and CFP National Championship followed a similar format, with the CFP Semifinals at the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl Classic on a non-New Year's Day date. This year, the viewership number includes new Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl CFP non-Semifinal audience highs, which occurred on New Year's Day.

ESPN Digital Platforms Up 10% Year-Over-Year on Championship Monday

On Championship Monday, 941 million minutes were consumed across ESPN Digital platforms (game and non-game), up 10% from last season's Championship Monday.

*ESPN's MegaCast Presentation offered multiple productions for the game; however, only ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU are represented above. ESPN Classic, and SEC Network are not rated and thus not accounted for in this release. ESPNEWS will be reported soon. Additionally, ESPN3 streaming numbers are also not accounted for here.





  [january 2019]  
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.