College Football Playoff semifinals see record TV ratings
The first-ever College Football Playoff semifinals on Thursday were the highest rated ever for a non-championship game on ESPN and ABC.
ESPN said in a release Friday that the broadcast of Oregon’s 59-20 rout of Florida State posted a 15.5 overnight rating, while the 42-35 win by Ohio State over Alabama earned a 15.3 rating. Both games were the highest-rated New Year’s Day college football games ever on an ESPN network.
Both games also earned a higher overnight rating that the BCS Championship last season. Last year’s BCS Championship between Florida State and Auburn had a 14.6 rating and was seen 25.57 million people. The final BCS title game on broadcast TV — ABC’s telecast of Alabama-Texas in 2010 — drew an 18.2 overnight for a Thursday night telecast.