The promotional efforts ESPN put into its broadcast of the inaugural CFP National Championship appears to have paid off, as Ohio State's 42-20 win over Oregon last night will likely become the most-viewed telecast in cable TV history. Fast-national figures will be releases later today, but the game drew an 18.5 overnight rating from 8:30pm-12:00am ET, marking the net’s best overnight figure on record. The 18.5 overnight topped the previous cable TV high held by the ’11 BCS National Championship, in which Auburn's defeat of Oregon with a last-second field goal earned a 16.1 overnight. Ohio State-Oregon also is up 21% from a 15.3 overnight for Florida State’s 34-31 win over Auburn in last year's BCS title game. While the cable TV audience record did fall, the audience for last night's game was below the expectations of many experts. Last night’s game peaked at a 20.5 rating from 9:30-9:45pm, when Ohio State went up 21-7 in the second quarter. The ratings got back up to a 19.1 in the third quarter from 11:00-11:15pm as Oregon came close to tying the score, but then dropped the remainder of the game as Ohio State pulled away. Ohio markets led the way for last night’s game, with Columbus (51.2), Dayton (43.8) and Cleveland-Akron (41.3) taking the top spots. Portland ranked No. 4 with a 37.6 local rating, while Birmingham ranked No. 5 with a 36.1. In all, 22 markets last night set local ratings records for a college football postseason game on ESPN. When including the CFP Megacast, ESPN drew an 18.9 overnight over its family of networks. Last year’s title game plus Megacast drew a 15.7 overnight.
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QUARTER-HOUR RATINGS FOR CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ON ESPN
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TIME (ET)
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OVERNIGHT RATING
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8:30-8:45pm
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16.7
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8:45-9:00pm
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18.3
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9:00-9:15pm
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19.9
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9:15-9:30pm
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20.0
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9:30-9:45pm
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20.5
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9:45-10:00pm
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19.9
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10:00-10:15pm
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19.8
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10:15-10:30pm
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15.8
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10:30-10:45pm
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16.7
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10:45-11:00pm
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18.5
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11:00-11:15pm
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19.1
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11:15-11:30pm
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18.8
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11:30-11:45pm
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18.3
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11:45pm-12:00am
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17.2
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GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS: The CFP National Championship overnight was 19% higher than this year’s Rose Bowl CFP semifinal (Oregon-FSU) and a 21% increase from the Sugar Bowl semifinal (Ohio State-Alabama). Some top media experts
expected as much as a 25% bump from the semifinals. Assuming a 4-5% drop from overnight ratings to fast-national figures, the CFP title game could end up well under 40 million viewers, which was also below many expectations. While the CFP National Championship was equal to or greater than most of the NFL Wild Card overnights, it did not top the figures for any of this past weekend’s NFL Divisional games. Excluding NFL Playoff telecasts, the CFP title game will likely be the most-viewed program on all of TV since the Academy Awards last year (27.9 overnight). It easily topped the 15.2 overnight that Fox earned for Game 7 of the Giants-Royals World Series in ’14 (
Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
CHRIS CROSS: In Dallas, Barry Horn writes ESPN’s Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit "offered a clinical dissection of the game sans the folksy chatter that marginal fans might have become accustomed to in big games when the likes of Keith Jackson and Brent Musburger served up the play-by-play" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/13). In Columbus, Rob Oller writes Herbstreit and Fowler "were steady Eddies in the ESPN booth." Oller: "I could have used a bit more of a wow factor from them, but they let the action on the field do most of the outrageous talking" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 1/13). In Cleveland, Marc Bona writes Fowler is "not prone to repeated phrasing or clichés" that Musburger was. Also, Herbstreit does a "fair job concentrating on the game, the matchups and why things work or don't work." Neither Fowler nor Herbstreit "rely on catch phrases, and both have a genuine passion for the game" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 1/13). SI.com's Richard Deitsch writes Fowler "is a professional through and through" and he will "never embarrass you." What has "become clear this year, though, is that he doesn’t have the booming, iconic big-game voice as some of his predecessors." But Fowler "did give some nice word play on Ohio State’s final touchdown." He said, "Ezekiel Elliott dots the I on this National Championship win" (SI.com, 1/13). The N.Y. Daily News' Bob Raissman tweeted, "Unfortunately Fowler does not have the big game voice, which this game deserves." Bulls radio announcer Chuck Swirsky: "Fowler/Herby have great booth chemistry but I do miss Brent....no question about it" (TWITTER.com, 1/12).
CHALLENGES AHEAD? SI.com's Pete Thamel noted next season, instead of the CFP semifinals "being played on New Year’s Day, where they would crush the ratings, they are scheduled" for New Year's Eve. While this "may not seem like a big deal on the surface, the viewership is destined to plummet when the Orange and Cotton bowls host the semifinals on Dec. 31." Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said, "You lose some of the casual fan. Any time you put a game on in anything other than the optimal time slot, you’re going to lose something." ESPN execs also "admit the timing isn't ideal." ESPN Senior VP/Programming Acquisitions Burke Magnus: "New Year's Eve is going to be a challenge." Thamel wrote it is "hard to imagine the centuries-long traditions of going out on New Year Eve being upended by people suddenly wanting to stay home and watch college football" (
SI.com, 1/12).
