The following is courtesy of an ESPN press release:
“ESPN’s Monday night telecast of the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T — Ohio State’s 42-20 victory over Oregon at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – averaged 33,395,00 viewers and an 18.2 US household rating, according to Nielsen, delivering both the largest audience and highest rating in cable television history.
“The National Championship game surpassed both College Football Playoff Semifinals from Jan. 1: the Allstate Sugar Bowl (28,271,000 viewers) and The Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual (28,164,000 viewers), establishing the new most-watched cable program. In all, the first three games of the new College Football Playoff format (the beginning of ESPN’s 12-year agreement) are now the top 3 most-viewed programs in cable history. Together, the CFB Playoff Semifinals and National Championship combined to average 29,812,000 viewers and a 16.0 US household rating. Additionally, ESPN has now televised the Top 20 programs in cable history.”
Top 20 Most-Viewed Programs in Cable Television (Viewers)
Rank | Date | Program | Network | Viewers (000s) |
01/12/2015 | CFB/National Championship: Oregon-Ohio State^ | ESPN | 33,395 | |
01/01/2015 | CFB/Sugar Bowl: Alabama-Ohio St. ^^ | ESPN | 28,271 | |
01/01/2015 | CFB/Rose Bowl: Oregon-Florida St. ^^ | ESPN | 28,164 | |
01/10/2011 | CFB/BCS Champ: Oregon-Auburn | ESPN | 27,316 | |
01/07/2013 | CFB/BCS Champ: Alabama-Notre Dame | ESPN | 26,380 | |
01/06/2014 | CFB/BCS Champ: Florida St.-Auburn | ESPN | 25,572 | |
01/09/2012 | CFB/BCS Champ: Alabama-LSU | ESPN | 24,214 | |
10/05/2009 | NFL MNF: Green Bay-Minnesota | ESPN | 21,839 | |
01/03/2015 | NFL Wild Card: Arizona-Carolina^^^ | ESPN | 21,678 | |
11/30/2009 | NFL MNF: New England-New Orleans | ESPN | 21,402 | |
01/01/2011 | CFB/Rose Bowl: TCU-Wisconsin | ESPN | 20,558 | |
12/27/2010 | NFL MNF: New Orleans-Atlanta | ESPN | 19,137 | |
10/27/2014 | NFL MNF: Washington-Dallas | ESPN | 18,809 | |
01/01/2014 | CFB/Rose Bowl: Stanford-Michigan State | ESPN | 18,636 | |
09/15/2008 | NFL MNF: Philadelphia-Dallas | ESPN | 18,608 | |
10/25/2010 | NFL MNF: NY Giants-Dallas | ESPN | 17,953 | |
01/02/2012 | CFB/Rose Bowl: Wisconsin-Oregon | ESPN | 17,558 | |
12/03/2007 | NFL MNF: New England-Baltimore | ESPN | 17,522 | |
09/27/2010 | NFL MNF: Green Bay-Chicago | ESPN | 17,454 | |
10/11/2010 | NFL MNF: Minnesota-NY Jets | ESPN | 17,313 |
^ = College Football Playoff National Championship
^^ = College Football Playoff Semifinal
^^^ = NFL Playoffs
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