In a strange twist, Fox will not have this year’s BCS National Championship Game, ABC has it in its deal with the Rose Bowl which somehow is separate from the overall BCS TV contract, but that’s a story for another time. Fox has finished its run for the Bowl Championship Series and it marks the final year on an up note. While the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar Bowls did not have the most attractive matchups in 2010, the ratings reflected otherwise.
2010 BCS ON FOX AUDIENCE UP FROM ‘09The complete 2010 Bowl Championship Series on FOX (three games) averaged a 7.9/13 household rating/share and 13.4 million viewers, flat with last year’s rating for the same three games, but up +1% in average audience (13.4 mill vs. 13.3 mill). This marks FOX Sports’ fifth consecutive major sports event/package to post audience increases over the previous year (MLB All-Star Game, MLB League Championship Series, MLB World Series, NFL Regular Season and BCS).FOX Sports concluded its presentation of 2010 Bowl Championship Series last night with coverage of the ORANGE BOWL. The close game that featured Georgia Tech take on Iowa averaged a 6.8/11 average household rating/share with 10.9 million viewers, up +26% over last year’s Orange Bowl (Cincinnati/Virginia Tech, 5.4/9, 9.3 million viewers). Against last year’s comparable third BCS game, the 2009 FIESTA BOWL that featured powerhouses Ohio State and Texas, the game is down -35% (10.4/17; 17.1 mill).Atlanta led all markets with an impressive 21.5/32, followed by Birmingham (19.6/27), Columbus (18.9/29) and New Orleans (12.8/19).
It will be interesting to see how the National Championship Game does on Thursday especially if Alabama and Texas are close going into the 4th quarter.
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