College football bowl TV ratings were good for Disney with most of the first weekend of games on its networks.
The three Saturday college football bowl games on ABC won the weekend, with the Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk leading the way. That game averaged 2.38 million viewers.
We can only project that these viewer numbers will go up in the next two weeks as the college football bowl season progresses.
Date | Bowl game | Network | Rating | Avg. viewers |
Dec. 16 | LA Bowl: UCLA 35, Boise State 22 | ABC | 1.4 | 2.38 million |
Dec. 16 | Cure Bowl: Appalachian State 13, Miami (Ohio) 9 | ABC | 1.2 | 1.95 million |
Dec. 16 | Celebration Bowl: Florida A&M 30, Howard 26 | ABC | 0.9 | 1.51 million |
Dec. 16 | Myrtle Beach Bowl: Ohio 41, Georgia Southern 21 | ESPN | 0.7 | 1.20 million |
Dec. 16 | New Orleans Bowl: Jacksonville St. 34, Louisiana 31 (OT) | ESPN | 0.6 | 1.09 million |
Dec. 16 | Independence Bowl: Texas Tech 34, Cal 14 | ESPN | 0.6 | 1.02 million |
Dec. 16 | New Mexico Bowl: Fresno St. 37, New Mexico St. 10 | ESPN | 0.46 | 845,000 |
Related: CBS was the big winner in college football TV ratings
SEC championship tops conference title game ratings
The Southeastern Conference championship was the most watched conference title game by far. More than 17 million tuned in for Alabama’s win against Georgia. According to Nielsen, it was the third-largest audience for the SEC championship since 2001.
The Big Ten title game audience was down about 700,000 from last year’s matchup between Michigan and Purdue. This year’s game between the Wolverines and Iowa had a lot less scoring, which probably kept down the overall numbers.
With the Pac-12 championship being played on Friday, and for the fact that it was an exciting, down-to-the-wire game, led to its highest audience ever. And, well, since the league just might go belly-up, the highest audience it will ever get.
Date | Conference | Network | Rating | Avg. viewers |
Dec. 2 | SEC: Alabama 27, Georgia 24 | CBS | 8.9 | 17.52 million |
Dec. 2 | Big Ten: Michigan 26, Iowa 0 | Fox | 5.1 | 10.02 million |
Dec. 1 | Pac-12: Washington 34, Oregon 31 | ABC | 4.9 | 9.25 million |
Dec. 2 | Big 12: Texas 49, Oklahoma State 21 | ABC | 4.4 | 7.89 million |
Dec. 2 | ACC: Florida State 16, Louisville 6 | ABC | 3.8 | 7.03 million |
Dec. 2 | American: SMU 26, Tulane 14 | ABC | 1.0 | 1.88 million |
Dec. 2 | Mid-America: Miami (Ohio) 23, Toledo 14 | ESPN | 0.8 | 1.29 million |
Dec. 2 | Mountain West: Boise State 44, UNLV 20 | Fox | 0.7 | 1.26 million |
Dec. 2 | Sun Belt: Troy 49, Appalachian State 23 | ESPN | 0.2 | 372,000 |