Rose Bowl Up 10%, FOX BCS Games Up 13% (12% Overall) January 9, 2009 5:16 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in BCS National Championship Game, Broadcast TV Ratings, College Football, Nielsen TV Ratings, Sports, Television.add a comment
With the College Football season, and therefore Bowl season, over, it’s time to take a quick look at how the ratings turned out for this year’s set of major games: Rose Bowl; Orange Bowl; Sugar Bowl; Fiesta Bowl and the National Championship.
Here’s how the respective telecast’s this year stack up to last season (numbers in parenthesis for the 2009 numbers indicate the change from the year prior–red represents a decrease, green represents an increase):
Rose Bowl (ABC)
- 2009: Penn State vs. USC – 1/1/2009
- Households – 11.7/21 (+6%)
- Viewers – 20.60M (+10%/+1.85M)
- Adults 18-49 – 6.5/20 (+3%)
- 2008: Illinois vs. USC – 1/1/2008
- Households – 11.0/19
- Viewers – 18.75M
- Adults 18-49 – 6.3/18
Orange Bowl (FOX)
- 2009: Cincinnatti vs. Virginia Tech – 1/1/2009
- Households – 5.4/9 (-27%)
- Viewers – 9.32M (-22%/-2.64M)
- Adults 18-49 – 3.0/8 (-30%)
- 2008: Kansas vs. Virginia Tech – 1/3/2008
- Households – 7.4/12
- Viewers – 11.96M
- Adults 18-49 – 4.3/12
Sugar Bowl (FOX)
- 2009: Alabama vs. Utah – 1/2/2009
- Households – 7.8/13 (+11%)
- Viewers – 13.37M (+14%/+1.67M)
- Adults 18-49 – 4.3/12 (-9%)
- 2008: Hawaii vs. Georgia – 1/1/2008
- Households – 7.0/12
- Viewers – 11.70M
- Adults 18-49 – 4.7/12
Fiesta Bowl (FOX)
- 2009: Texas vs. Ohio State – 1/5/2009
- Households – 10.4/17 (+35%)
- Viewers – 17.06M (+40%/+4.90M)
- Adults 18-49 – 6.0/16 (+36%)
- 2008: West Virginia vs. Oklahoma – 1/2/2008
- Households – 7.7/13
- Viewers – 12.16M
- Adults 18-49 – 4.4/12
BCS National Championship (FOX)
- 2009: Florida vs. Oklahoma – 1/8/2009
- Households – 15.8/25 (+10%)
- Viewers – 26.77M (+16%/+3.70M)
- Adults 18-49 – 9.5/25 (+16%)
- 2008: LSU vs. Ohio State – 1/7/2008
- Households – 14.4/22
- Viewers – 23.07M
- Adults 18-49 – 8.2/21
Overall, the four BCS games on Fox and the Rose Bowl on ABC averaged the following numbers this year: 10.2/17 HH rating/share, 17.42M viewers, 5.9/16 A18-49 rating/share. In 2008, the same five games averaged the following numbers: 9.5/16 HH rating/share, 15.53M viewers, 5.6/15 A18-49 rating/share. That represents a change of 8% among households, 12%/1.90M among viewers and 5% among adults 18-49.
If you’re interested in separating out the Rose Bowl from the four BCS bowls, here’s the average, and comparison, of the four FOX BCS games:
- Households – 9.1/15 to 9.9/15 (+9%)
- Viewers – 14.72M to 16.60M (+13%/+1.88M)
- Adults 18-49 – 5.4/14 to 5.7/15 (+6%)
As you can see, despite the weak performance of this year’s Orange Bowl and the slight decrease among adults 18-49 for the Sugar Bowl, FOX still saw a solid increase in viewership over the year prior.
While I wish we could get a playoff system in college football, the sport remains very strong, as is evidenced by the ratings above. Then again, it’s hard to imagine interest wouldn’t grow even more if there was a playoff system. Is there really anyone out there that wouldn’t want to see a matchup between the Gators and Trojans (or even Utah, who afterall did go undefeated)?
Mad Men Season 3 and The Prisoner Premiere This Summer January 9, 2009 4:10 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in AMC, Mad Men, News, Television, The Prisoner.add a comment
At AMC’s Television Association panel on Thursday, president Charlie Collier announced that the period series Mad Men will return for its third season this summer. That despite continued contract negotiations between producer Lionsgate TV and creator/executive producer Matthew Weiner:
“As long as we get the writers’ room up and running over the next few months, we’re fine (for a summer launch),” Collier told reporters after the sesh, adding that he’s optimistic that an agreement with Weiner will be reached soon.
AMC also announced that Mad Men will lead into the launch of The Prisoner, the network’s six-part series remake of the classic 1960s British drama of the same name.
Source: Variety
Broadcast TV Ratings for Thursday, January 8, 2009 January 9, 2009 4:00 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Broadcast TV Ratings, News, Nielsen TV Ratings, Television.1 comment so far
FOX’s presentation of the FedEx BCS National Championship Game between the Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners propelled the network to an easy win, besting last year’s presentation by 16% among viewers and adults 18-49.
Elsewhere on the evening, ABC returned dramas Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice (which debuted in its new timeslot). The network finished in second place, but it was really at the expense of its programming. Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy fell by double digits among households and viewers. The only bright spot was Private Practice which made a mostly successful jump to a new night, with growth of 37% among viewers and 43% among adults 18-49. Retention levels weren’t great–66% among viewers and 65% among adults 18-49–but it’s a good start.
NBC meanwhile suffered most from the decision to air new programming against the BCS Championship. All of the network’s shows fell by double digits (20%+ in most cases) and 30 Rock, which aired out of a repeat of The Office fell the most. The show was off a depressing 29% among viewers and 39% among adults 18-49.
CBS’s lineup of repeats were good enough to keep the network in third place. The CW was fifth among the five major networks with repeats of Smallville and Supernatural.
My full analysis follows after the jump. (more…)
Film Trailers to Feature Heavily at Super Bowl January 9, 2009 3:21 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movie Trailers, Movies, News, Television.1 comment so far
Variety is reporting that movie studios will be premiering several trailers during NBC’s Super Bowl telecast on February 1st. A 30-second spot has been set at $3 million (up 11% from last year’s going rate of $2.7 million), but studios are are waiting so they can pay less for last minute spots. Here are some excerpts from Variety:
Confirmed for this year’s roster are high-profile titles like Paramount’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “Star Trek” and “G.I. Joe”; Sony’s “Angels and Demons”; DreamWorks Animation’s “Monsters vs. Aliens”; and Universal’s “Land of the Lost” and its fourth installment in “The Fast and the Furious” franchise. Disney is also planning to use the game to raise the profile for Pixar’s next toon, “Up,” while a “Wolverine” spot is likely from Fox.
As of Thursday, Fox had yet to buy any time during the game. Should it do so at the last minute, “Wolverine,” “Night at the Museum 2” and “Ice Age” are the pics it’s most likely to promote.
Disney is remaining tight-lipped about its Super Bowl strategy, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it buys time for Dwayne Johnson starrer “Race to Witch Mountain” and Jerry Bruckheimer’s “G-Force.” The Mouse House typically airs two spots — one devoted to a toon and one to a live-action release.
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