Last night’s Rose Bowl telecast between TCU and Wisconsin scored a 11.7 overnight rating, the highest overnight mark (excluding NFL) for ESPN and for all of cable television.
Despite the cable success, it was down 15 percent from last year’s 13.8 overnight rating on ABC.
In the nightcap, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl between Oklahoma and Connecticut generated a 6.7 overnights, tops for all programs on broadcast or cable yesterday evening.
Similar to the Rose Bowl though, the Fiesta Bowl was down 22 percent from an 8.6 mark on Fox last year.
The Rose Bowl (#1) and Fiesta Bowl (#4) are now two of ESPN’s top four college football overnight ratings on record. This is the first year that all five BCS bowl games will air on cable instead of network television.