Citrus Bowl pulled in 4.8 million viewers.

[zeek55]

With our other known highly rated games of the past few decades for context:

1996 USC (ABC) - 30.4 million (19.4 rating)
1997 Tennessee (ABC) - ~13 million (8.3 rating)
2018 Ohio State (FOX) - 8.659 million (5.0 rating)
2020 Ohio State (FOX) - 8.031 million (4.65 rating)
2013 Ohio State (ABC) - 7.36 million (4.4 rating)
2008 Missouri (ESPN) - 6.076 million (4.6 rating)
2010 Auburn (ESPN) - 5.685 million (3.5 rating)
2020 Auburn (ABC) - 4.781 million (2.79 rating)
2017 Kentucky (ESPN) - 4.626 million (2.8 rating)
2020 Wisconsin (ABC) - 4.245 million (2.35 rating)


I'd imagine the Peach Bowl (8.3 million viewers) being on at the same time with a top 10 matchup with an SEC team is probably what reduced viewing a bit if anything; more SEC fans probably watching that one versus Citrus than in a normal year given Auburn wasn't ranked. That rating is fine in what has been sort of a down year for a lot of the bowls (due to sports overload the past 4-5 months). Fiesta and Cotton pulled in 6.7 and 5.8 million viewers respectively, and they are NY6 bowls. Citrus was highest of the non-NY6 bowls as it virtually always is.

This becomes our most watched win of the Fitz era. And we played in 3 super high rated games this year (other two were Wisconsin and Ohio State of course). Always good to win in front of large audiences.

 

[BleedingPurple15]

I think viewership in general is down this year, but don't quote me on that.

 

[CatVideos]

Couldn’t resist:
“I think viewership in general is down this year, but don't quote me on that.”

 

[zeek55]

I think viewership in general is down this year, but don't quote me on that.

It is, most games saw big viewership slides; I think the reason is that there's been a bit of sports overload the past 4-5 months. There's been a regular slide in viewership over the years due to people cutting the cord, but there's just so much more sports the past 5 months than there's ever been (due to all the postponed April-June events), that it sort of created mass cannibalization.
Only really the NFL avoided that.

It's notable that 2 of our games (Wisconsin and Ohio State) had great viewership compared to other similar games; 2020 Big Ten championship game versus 2018 probably posted the best hold compared to the other conferences.

 

[Medill '03]

Now we know why the bowls want the big names. This game got 14 million viewers last year (Alabama vs. Michigan).

 

[zeek55]

Now we know why the bowls want the big names. This game got 14 million viewers last year (Alabama vs. Michigan).

Yeah I'd caution that it always does pull in a much bigger number when it's in front of an actual Rose Bowl and not the CFP (probably due to Big Ten fans that watch the Rose Bowl and start with Citrus), but yeah both of those teams and both ranked top 15.

So those two factors really come into play here (no Big Ten team in Rose + Auburn not ranked).

I think it'd have probably done significantly better if we were matched up with a ranked SEC team (like Florida).

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Northwestern got a lot of good press in the Ohio State - Clemson game. Curious how many eyes and ears were there to see and hear it later in the day?

 

[GeauxCatsGeaux]

Northwestern got a lot of good press in the Ohio State - Clemson game. Curious how many eyes and ears were there to see and hear it later in the day?

19.1 million watched OSU-Clemson

 

[zeek55]

Yeah the playoffs did well; usually the viewership is better on the rest of the bowls, but it seems super concentrated this time into just the CFP (perhaps due to overall sports fatigue).

Just felt like the average sports fan probably stopped paying attention to college football after the conference championship games and then just came back for the two CFPs.

 

[trumpytheballcarrier]

More people than ever are tuning in via free Streams on the internet, which isn't included in these viewership #s, another reason the ratings are "down".

 

[Deeringfish]

Northwestern got a lot of good press in the Ohio State - Clemson game. Curious how many eyes and ears were there to see and hear it later in the day?

NU played a respectable game against OSU this year. If networks are smart they look to build a complimentary picture of the teams in the championship.
Denigrating the teams they have beaten doesn't play into that narrative. We should expect to hear that OSU won the B1G title game against Northwestern who went on to beat Auburn convincingly in the Citrus Bowl on New Years Day.

If they don't say it like that they are stupid for not presenting their product in the best possible light. We'll see.

 

[nick614]

More people than ever are tuning in via free Streams on the internet, which isn't included in these viewership #s, another reason the ratings are "down".

Which is why they should stream it for free online like CBS does

 

[FanatiCat]

Now we know why the bowls want the big names. This game got 14 million viewers last year (Alabama vs. Michigan).

I couldn’t find a listing of Citrus Bowl ratings by year and didn’t want to look them all up, but that was a significant anomaly. Alabama in the Citrus Bowl when they’re usually in the CFP? Huge get for the Citrus.
It also seems to depend on the other games before and after.
Finally, can you believe 1 year ago Michigan led Alabama at halftime?

 

[NCPurplecat]

Score and awareness of the game matter even if Peach Bowl was a tight one.

 

[zeek55]

I couldn’t find a listing of Citrus Bowl ratings by year and didn’t want to look them all up, but that was a significant anomaly. Alabama in the Citrus Bowl when they’re usually in the CFP? Huge get for the Citrus.
It also seems to depend on the other games before and after.
Finally, can you believe 1 year ago Michigan led Alabama at halftime?

Yes, it was a match-up of two top 15 Alabama and Michigan followed by top 10 Ohio State in a true Rose Bowl.

That's why it got such an insane rating. 3 of the biggest fan bases in the country watching that game as well as average Big Ten/SEC fans. Rare to have such a perfect setup.

Normal ratings for Citrus are in the 6 to 9 million range.

Ours was below that but had one team unranked, and a top 10 match-up at the same time along with no Big Ten team in the Rose Bowl.

It's a weird year for bowls, so this kind of dip is not a surprise.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

There appeared to be little or no self promotion by ABC and the affiliated networks for the Citrus Bowl game so that too may have been a factor limiting viewership,