Fox Scores Solid Overnight For Ohio State-Florida BCS Final

Florida’s 41-14 Win Over Ohio State Earns 19.1/29 Overnight Nielsen Rating

Fox earned a 19.1/29 overnight Nielsen rating for last night’s Florida-Ohio State BCS National Championship Game, down 15.9% from a 22.7 for last year’s BCS title game, the Texas-USC Rose Bowl, which aired on a Wednesday night on ABC. This was the first year of a separate BCS Championship Game (THE DAILY).

PRODUCTION: Fox missed the start of the national anthem while guest analyst Eddie George, an Ohio State grad, presented guest analyst Emmitt Smith, a Florida alum, with some Ohio State merchandise (THE DAILY). In Orlando, Jerry Greene writes the camera and sound “were excellent, although initially Fox did not provide much of the ‘pageantry’ it had emphasized was the difference between college and pro ball. However, the network rediscovered the crowd reaction shot just before halftime” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/9).

TALENT REVIEWS: USA TODAY’s Michael Hiestand writes Fox’ coverage had “no obvious glitches but also no memorable commentary.” The network “at least had a little spice in the pregame exchanges between” Smith and George. Booth analysts Charles Davis, who calls games for TBS, and Barry Alvarez, the Wisconsin AD, “made it clear that Fox should have used NFL analysts Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long — terrific on Fox’ Sugar Bowl — as the announcers” (USA TODAY, 1/9). In N.Y., Richard Sandomir writes Davis “could have handled the analytic load himself.” He “digested the plays quickly and offered fast, smart, pointed commentary” and “tried regularly to bring Alvarez into the mix.” But Alvarez “frequently sounded shaky, nervous and tentative, providing often obvious analyses.” He was also “prone to referring to a couple of players by their numbers instead of their names, a failing of neophytes to the TV booth. But a neophyte should not be in the booth for bowl games” (N.Y. TIMES, 1/9). The ORLANDO SENTINEL’s Greene writes play-by-play announcer Thom Brennaman “was quick and enthusiastic.” Davis “did an excellent job of providing insight.” Only Alvarez “rested on his reputation, providing little more than ... Profound Statements of the Obvious” (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/9).

Smith (2nd from l) And George (2nd from r) Add Spice To Fox’ Pregame Show

VIEWING PARTY: CABLEFAX DAILY reports Mediacom planned to host “several football parties” last night for customers who wanted to watch the BCS Championship Game after the MSO “was forced to pull 22 Sinclair stations from” about 700,000 subs in 12 states on Saturday. Execs “would not say how many subs have defected, but described the numbers as not material” (CABLEFAX DAILY, 1/9).

MORNING TV MONITOR: All three network morning shows today reported on the BCS game. ABC’s “Good Morning America” mentioned the story in the opening headlines, and had a 30-second report at 7:07. Anchors Robin Roberts and Diane Sawyer and weatherman Sam Champion worked on their Gator Chomp. Sawyer called Florida’s win over Ohio State “the biggest upset in years.” CBS’ “Early Show” ran a 20-second story at 7:13, and NBC’s “Today” had a 20-second story at 7:19.