ESPN on Monday drew 15.7 million viewers for the USC-Penn State Rose Bowl, which aired on Jan. 2 due to conflicts with NFL coverage on New Year's Day. That figure is up 16% from 13.6 million viewers for Stanford-Iowa last year on New Year's Day. The Rose Bowl in '15 was part of the CFP semifinals. While up from last year's ESPN audience for the game, the past two years are likely the Rose Bowl's lowest audience figures on record. Meanwhile, the Rose Parade on ABC on Monday drew 4.8 million viewers, down from 6.5 million viewers last year.
|
ROSE BOWL AUDIENCE TREND
|
|
YEAR
|
MATCHUP
|
NETWORK
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
'17
|
USC-Penn State
|
ESPN
|
15,740
|
|
'16
|
Stanford-Iowa
|
ESPN
|
13,552
|
|
'15
|
Oregon-Florida State (CFP Semifinal)
|
ESPN
|
28,164
|
|
'14
|
Michigan State-Stanford
|
ESPN
|
18,636
|
|
'13
|
Stanford-Wisconsin
|
ESPN
|
17,024
|
|
'12
|
Oregon-Wisconsin
|
ESPN
|
17,558
|
|
'11
|
TCU-Wisconsin
|
ESPN
|
20,558
|
|
'10
|
Ohio State-Oregon
|
ABC
|
24,025
|
|
'09
|
USC-Penn State
|
ABC
|
20,603
|
|
'08
|
USC-Illinois
|
ABC
|
19,003
|
FLAT NOTE: NBC on Monday drew 2.6 million viewers for the Blackhawks-Blues Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, marking a new low for the game for the third straight year. The game also moved off of its traditional New Year's Day slot due to NFL action on Sunday. Last year's Canadiens-Bruins game at Gillette Stadium drew 2.8 million viewers, while the '15 game featuring Blackhawks-Capitals at Nationals Park drew 3.5 million viewers. The high mark for the Winter Classic is 4.5 million viewers in '11 for Capitals-Penguins at Heinz Field.
The chart below lists audience figures for select recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| "SNF": Packers-Lions |
1/1
|
NBC
|
8:31-11:35pm
|
13.0
|
23,820
|
NFL nat'l window:
Giants-Redskins (76%) |
1/1
|
Fox
|
4:15-7:30pm
|
12.3
|
22,440
|
| "MNF": Lions-Cowboys |
12/26
|
ESPN
|
8:15-11:43pm
|
10.1
|
18,611
|
| CFP Semifinal: Alabama-Washington |
12/31
|
ESPN
|
3:12-6:17pm
|
10.1
|
18,397
|
| CFP Semifinal: Clemson-Ohio State |
12/31
|
ESPN
|
7:10-10:32pm
|
9.3
|
18,396
|
| NFL: (regional) |
1/1
|
Fox
|
1:00-4:15pm
|
9.6
|
16,974
|
NFL nat'l window:
Patriots-Dolphins (64%) |
1/1
|
CBS
|
1:03-4:31pm
|
9.2
|
16,577
|
| NFL: (regional) |
1/1
|
CBS
|
4:33-7:42pm
|
6.8
|
12,139
|
Capital One Orange Bowl:
Florida State-Michigan |
12/30
|
ESPN
|
8:11-11:58pm
|
6.2
|
11,469
|
| "Football Night in America" |
1/1
|
NBC
|
7:30-8:15pm
|
4.6
|
8,419
|
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl:
LSU-Louisville |
12/31
|
ABC
|
11:01am-2:35pm
|
3.9
|
6,390
|
| Outback Bowl: Florida-Iowa |
1/2
|
ABC
|
1:00-4:30pm
|
3.6
|
6,106
|
| "Fox NFL Sunday" |
1/1
|
Fox
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
3.6
|
5,770
|
Franklin American Mortgage Music
City Bowl: Tennessee-Nebraska |
12/30
|
ESPN
|
3:30-7:17pm
|
3.1
|
5,030
|
| Belk Bowl: Virginia Tech-Arkansas |
12/29
|
ESPN
|
5:42-9:32pm
|
2.9
|
4,966
|
| Rose Parade |
1/2
|
ABC
|
11:00am-1:00pm
|
3.1
|
4,776
|
Valero Alamo Bowl:
Oklahoma State-Colorado |
12/29
|
ESPN
|
9:32pm-12:27am
|
2.6
|
4,553
|
Russell Athletic Bowl:
Miami-West Virginia |
12/28
|
ESPN
|
5:39-9:05pm
|
2.5
|
4,254
|
National Funding Holiday Bowl:
Minnesota-Washington State |
12/27
|
ESPN
|
7:03-10:48pm
|
2.4
|
4,048
|
| "The NFL Today" |
1/1
|
CBS
|
12:00-1:03pm
|
2.5
|
3,804
|
AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl:
Kansas State-Texas A&M |
12/28
|
ESPN
|
9:05pm-12:41am
|
2.2
|
3,793
|
Hyundai Sun Bowl:
Stanford-North Carolina |
12/30
|
CBS
|
2:00-6:05pm
|
1.9
|
2,925
|
| Foster Farms Bowl: Utah-Indiana |
12/28
|
Fox
|
8:40pm-12:18am
|
1.6
|
2,628
|
Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic:
Blackhawks-Blues |
1/2
|
NBC
|
1:00-4:15pm
|
1.5
|
2,557
|
| "Fox NFL Kickoff" |
1/1
|
Fox
|
11:00am-12:00pm
|
1.1
|
1,549
|
| College basketball: Louisville-Indiana |
12/31
|
CBS
|
12:30-3:00pm
|
0.8
|
1,353
|
| EPL: Liverpool-Manchester City |
12/31
|
NBC
|
12:30-2:30pm
|
0.8
|
1,235
|
NHL Centennial Classic:
Red Wings-Maple Leafs |
1/1
|
NBC
|
3:15-7:00pm
|
0.6
|
1,077
|
"Premier League: Behind
The Badge: Watford FC" |
12/31
|
NBC
|
3:00-4:00pm
|
0.6
|
951
|
Women's college basketball:
Ohio State-Indiana |
12/31
|
CBS
|
3:00-5:11pm
|
0.5
|
765
|
"World of X Games:
Real Snow Backcountry" |
1/1
|
ABC
|
4:00-5:00pm
|
0.4
|
526
|
| World Series of Fighting |
12/31
|
NBC
|
4:00-6:00pm
|
0.6
|
348
|
