ESPN for its New Year’s Six bowl games averaged 11.84 million viewers, down 19% from 14.68 million last year. The 18.55 million viewers who watched Alabama-Michigan State in the New Year’s Eve CFP semifinal is down 34% from last year for the Ohio State-Alabama semifinal in primetime on New Year’s Day, and the 15.64 million viewers who watched the Clemson-Oklahoma semifinal on New Year’s Eve is off 44% from Oregon-FSU in the New Year’s Day late afternoon slot in ’15.
|
NEW YEAR'S SIX BOWLS ON ESPN
|
|
DATE
|
BOWL
|
MATCHUP
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
12/31/15
|
Peach
|
Houston-Florida State
|
5,604
|
|
12/31/15
|
Orange (semi)
|
Clemson-Oklahoma
|
15,640
|
|
12/31/15
|
Cotton (semi)
|
Alabama-Michigan State
|
18,552
|
|
1/1/16
|
Fiesta
|
Ohio State-Notre Dame
|
9,759
|
|
1/1/16
|
Rose
|
Stanford-Iowa
|
13,552
|
|
1/1/16
|
Sugar
|
Ole Miss-Oklahoma State
|
8,940
|
|
DATE
|
BOWL
|
MATCHUP
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
12/31/14
|
Peach
|
TCU-Ole Miss
|
5,013
|
|
12/31/14
|
Fiesta
|
Boise State-Arizona
|
7,406
|
|
12/31/14
|
Orange
|
Georgia Tech-Mississippi State
|
8,935
|
|
1/1/15
|
Cotton
|
Michigan State-Baylor
|
9,086
|
|
1/1/15
|
Rose (semi)
|
Oregon-Florida State
|
28,164
|
|
1/1/15
|
Sugar (semi)
|
Ohio State-Alabama
|
28,271
|
| |
|
|
|
HARDWOOD LIFE: Combined viewership for NBA games across ESPN, ABC and TNT are pacing 15% ahead of where the league finished the ’14-15 season. ESPN is averaging 1.86 million viewers to date, up 2% from 1.82 million viewers through the Christmas Day games last season. ESPN carried all three cable Christmas games this season, whereas TNT had two last year. Meanwhile, TNT is averaging 1.7 million viewers, down from 2.0 million viewers at the same point last season. While down to date, TNT is pacing even with the net’s average for the complete ’14-15 season. ABC also saw gains for its games on Christmas. NBA TV also is seeing 306,000 average viewers per game, a 1% increase to date, fueled by the pickup of several Warriors games. The net’s primetime average this season to date also is up 5%.
The charts below list final audience figures from recent sports telecasts.Several figures for broadcast TV were delayed due to the New Year.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| "Sunday Night Football": Vikings-Packers |
1/3
|
NBC
|
8:30-11:30pm
|
13.8
|
24,286
|
CFP Semifinal: Goodyear Cotton Bowl:
Alabama-Michigan State |
12/31
|
ESPN
|
8:20-11:31pm
|
9.6
|
18,552
|
| "Monday Night Football": Bengals-Broncos |
12/28
|
ESPN
|
8:15-11:59pm
|
9.4
|
15,806
|
CFP Semifinal: Capital One Orange Bowl:
Clemson-Oklahoma |
12/31
|
ESPN
|
4:10-8:01pm
|
9.1
|
15,640
|
| Rose Bowl: Stanford-Iowa |
1/1
|
ESPN
|
5:09-8:39pm
|
7.4
|
13,552
|
BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl:
Ohio State-Notre Dame |
1/1
|
ESPN
|
12:56-4:41pm
|
5.6
|
9,759
|
Allstate Sugar Bowl:
Ole Miss-Oklahoma State |
1/1
|
ESPN
|
8:39-11:58pm
|
5.1
|
8,940
|
| Valero Alamo Bowl: TCU-Oregon |
1/2
|
ESPN
|
6:52-11:02pm
|
4.4
|
7,414
|
AutoZone Liberty Bowl:
Arkansas-Kansas State |
1/2
|
ESPN
|
3:24-6:52pm
|
4.4
|
7,049
|
| TaxSlayer Bowl: Georgia-Penn State |
1/2
|
ESPN
|
12:00-3:24pm
|
3.7
|
5,872
|
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl:
Houston-Florida State |
12/31
|
ESPN
|
11:58am-3:54pm
|
3.7
|
5,604
|
Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic:
Canadiens-Bruins |
1/1
|
NBC
|
1:00-4:30pm
|
1.6
|
2,775
|
