The two CFP semifinals highlight the three New Year's Eve bowls. Houston-Florida State leads off in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, followed by the first semifinal featuring Oklahoma-Clemson in the Capital One Orange Bowl. The primetime semifinal is Alabama-Michigan State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
How will viewership of this year’s CFP semifinals be impacted by being held on New Year’s Eve? Questions have persisted all year as to what type of audience numbers the Cotton Bowl (4:00pm ET) and Orange Bowl (8:00pm ET) can get. Last season’s inaugural CFP semifinals were major hits, drawing more than 28 million viewers, and the games rank as the No. 2 and No. 3 most-viewed telecasts in the history of cable. THE DAILY asked a number of industry observers to predict viewership for tonight’s games, and here’s one preview – Pilson Communications' Neal Pilson: “I'm predicting both games will average about 26 million viewers, off less than 10% from last year.” Meanwhile, a top college marketer expects the numbers to be “better than expected.” Don’t miss today’s issue, you’ll want to read their full predictions.
