RATINGS LEADERS
Among the nation’s 56 metered TV markets, these had the 10 highest Nielsen ratings for the College Football Playoff championship game Monday night:
1. Birmingham, Ala., 59.2
2. Greenville, S.C., 39.0
3. Atlanta, 30.1
4. Nashville, Tenn., 29.1
5. Knoxville, Tenn., 28.4
6. New Orleans, 25.6
7. Jacksonville, Fla., 24.8
8. Columbus, Ohio, 23.0
9. Charlotte, N.C., 22.8
10. West Palm Beach, Fla., 20.3
(Note: The rating is the percentage of TV households in the market watching the game on average.)
(Source: ESPN)
Almost one-third of metro-Atlanta households watched college football’s championship game Monday night.
Alabama’s 45-40 victory over Clemson drew a 30.1 rating in the Atlanta television market, meaning 30.1 percent of the market’s homes with TVs tuned in on average.
That was close to double the national rating, which was 15.8 for the ESPN telecast, based on overnight Nielsen figures.
Among the nation’s 56 largest markets, Atlanta posted the highest rating outside the home territories of the participating teams. Only the Birmingham, Ala., and Greenville, S.C., markets had higher ratings: 59.2 and 39.0, respectively.
Southern markets accounted for nine of the 10 highest local ratings for the game featuring the champions of the SEC and ACC.
The Atlanta rating was this market’s highest ever for a postseason college-football telecast on ESPN, according to the network, and translated to a local audience of about 718,000 homes on average.
The percentage of Atlanta homes watching was pretty steady throughout the close, compelling game: 26.8 percent at kickoff, 33.4 percent at the peak from 9:45 p.m. until 10 p.m. and 26.9 percent for the post-midnight finish.
Not surprising given the proximity of Alabama and Clemson to the metro area, the Atlanta rating was up sharply from the previous season’s championship game, Ohio State’s 42-20 victory over Oregon. That game posted a 23.0 rating here.
Nationally, however, Monday’s 15.8 rating across the metered markets was down sharply from 18.5 for the Ohio State-Oregon game that capped the inaugural season of the College Football Playoff, the successor to the Bowl Championship Series as the method of determining the sport’s national champion. The Alabama-Clemson game drew a higher national rating than the final three championship games of the BCS era.
As previously reported, the TV ratings for this season's semifinals dropped 36 percent nationally and 15 percent in Atlanta compared to the first season of the playoff, likely largely due to those games shifting to New Year's Eve from New Year's Day.
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