Championship game ratings - Printable Version
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Championship game ratings - needle - 12-07-2021
The Pac lures in 4.2 million viewers for its Friday night game (the only game played Friday).
Not sure how that compares historically, but it beat the ACC (2.6 million) and American (3.4 million) championship games.
Someone in another thread said Alabama-Michigan is the hope for TV execs.
Well, SEC title game drew in 15.2 million viewers, compared to the Big 10's 11.7 million.
https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2021/12/07/tv-ratings-conference-championship-games-sec-acc-big-ten
RE: Championship game ratings - DC 86 - 12-07-2021
(12-07-2021, 08:33 PM)needle Wrote: The Pac lures in 4.2 million viewers for its Friday night game (the only game played Friday).
Not sure how that compares historically, but it beat the ACC (2.6 million) and American (3.4 million) championship games.
Someone in another thread said Alabama-Michigan is the hope for TV execs.
Well, SEC title game drew in 15.2 million viewers, compared to the Big 10's 11.7 million.
https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2021/12/07/tv-ratings-conference-championship-games-sec-acc-big-ten
The SEC championship game between Alabama and Georgia indeed drew 15.2 million viewers as you said. But the Ohio State/Michigan regular season game this year drew 15.9 million viewers, while facing more competition in their broadcast window. The Big-X championship game was a dud matchup, but the marquee Big-X matchup was the highest rated college football game of the year, more viewers than the marquee SEC matchup in its conference championship game.
Obviously the SEC is the most popular conference and its media rights generate the most revenue. But media analysts have cited Alabama/Michigan as ESPN's desired championship matchup.
- in terms of average ratings dating back to 2015 Alabama and Michigan are two of the three highest rated programs (Ohio State is the third). Michigan games average over 40% more viewers than Georgia games.
- having a game that features programs from two different regions is a big deal, better than overlapping viewership from the same conference.
- rematches in a short time frame historically haven't produced high ratings, especially when the first game wasn't compelling.
Alabama and Georgia are currently CBS/ESPN teams (CBS currently broadcasting the featured SEC game each week, ESPN exclusive starting in 2024) while Michigan is a split Fox/ESPN team (Fox getting the featured Big-X game each week). ESPN does own the SEC network, but this game is very important to their ad sales, and maximizing viewership is the top priority.
Simply pointing out that the SEC championship game had higher ratings than the Big-X championship game as a justification for a rematch is like saying that ALCS ratings were higher than NLCS ratings so they would like a rematch of the AL teams in the World Series, instead of having the Yankees play the Dodgers.
RE: Championship game ratings - gailtate - 12-08-2021
(12-07-2021, 09:33 PM)DC 86 Wrote:(12-07-2021, 08:33 PM)needle Wrote: The Pac lures in 4.2 million viewers for its Friday night game (the only game played Friday).
Not sure how that compares historically, but it beat the ACC (2.6 million) and American (3.4 million) championship games.
Someone in another thread said Alabama-Michigan is the hope for TV execs.
Well, SEC title game drew in 15.2 million viewers, compared to the Big 10's 11.7 million.
https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2021/12/07/tv-ratings-conference-championship-games-sec-acc-big-ten
The SEC championship game between Alabama and Georgia indeed drew 15.2 million viewers as you said. But the Ohio State/Michigan regular season game this year drew 15.9 million viewers, while facing more competition in their broadcast window. The Big-X championship game was a dud matchup, but the marquee Big-X matchup was the highest rated college football game of the year, more viewers than the marquee SEC matchup in its conference championship game.
Obviously the SEC is the most popular conference and its media rights generate the most revenue. But media analysts have cited Alabama/Michigan as ESPN's desired championship matchup.
- in terms of average ratings dating back to 2015 Alabama and Michigan are two of the three highest rated programs (Ohio State is the third). Michigan games average over 40% more viewers than Georgia games.
- having a game that features programs from two different regions is a big deal, better than overlapping viewership from the same conference.
- rematches in a short time frame historically haven't produced high ratings, especially when the first game wasn't compelling.
Alabama and Georgia are currently CBS/ESPN teams (CBS currently broadcasting the featured SEC game each week, ESPN exclusive starting in 2024) while Michigan is a split Fox/ESPN team (Fox getting the featured Big-X game each week). ESPN does own the SEC network, but this game is very important to their ad sales, and maximizing viewership is the top priority.
Simply pointing out that the SEC championship game had higher ratings than the Big-X championship game as a justification for a rematch is like saying that ALCS ratings were higher than NLCS ratings so they would like a rematch of the AL teams in the World Series, instead of having the Yankees play the Dodgers.
I say either match-up enjoys the same high ratings: One's a re-match with a team having something to prove, the other involves EUTM who's always having to prove something. Compelling.
RE: Championship game ratings - DC 86 - 12-08-2021
(12-08-2021, 01:38 PM)gailtate Wrote: I say either match-up enjoys the same high ratings: One's a re-match with a team having something to prove, the other involves EUTM who's always having to prove something. Compelling.
That's fine, but your opinion is not shared by people in the media business. Note that the least viewed college football championship game dating back to 2009 (excepting last year when all sports ratings took a massive hit) was the Alabama/LSU rematch in 2012. There's a reason why rematches are avoided in all the bowl games to the extent that ESPN can control the matchups. An intersectional matchup featuring teams from the two top conferences is what ESPN is hoping for.