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Media Analysis


TUNED IN: CFP COMMITTEE GOT IT RIGHT. AND FOX MOUNTING MASSIVE RIGHTS BID?

By Michael McCarthy
UPDATED January 04, 2024 | 03:15 pm
 * The Michigan-Alabama CFP semifinal had 27.2 million viewers.
 * Fox Sports eyes big CFP broadcast rights package.

Syndication: USA TODAY

Let’s give it up for the College Football Playoff selection committee. Despite
all the outrage from Florida State players, coaches, and fans, the reviled
committee dialed up one of the best TV shows in years with Michigan’s thrilling
27-20 overtime victory over Alabama on Monday.

ESPN’s telecast had it all. Two blue-chip college football programs, fighting
until the last down. Two legendary coaches, Jim Harbaugh and Nick Saban. An
iconic setting at the Rose Bowl—the “granddaddy of them all,” in the words of
the late Keith Jackson.  

How good was this for TV? Michigan-Alabama averaged 27.2 million viewers,
according to Nielsen’s fast nationals, peaking at 32.8 million. That made it one
of the Top 10 most-watched cable TV telecasts of all time (but still behind the
record 28.27 million viewers for Ohio State-Alabama in 2015, the most-watched
college football semifinal in history). Meanwhile, Washington-Texas late on
Monday night averaged 18.4 million viewers. All told, ESPN drew its most-watched
CFP Semifinals in six years, with 22.6 million average viewers.

Now, does anybody think the Seminoles, without star quarterback Jordan Travis,
would have produced comparable drama against Harbaugh’s loaded Wolverines? Even
after their no-show performance at the Orange Bowl, where the undefeated ACC
Champions were destroyed 63-3 by Georgia on Saturday? Yes, we can partly blame
that beatdown on their heartbreak at being excluded from the CFP in favor of
one-loss Alabama and Texas, and the subsequent exodus of opt-out players. But
the reality is that FSU was always going to be missing its injured starting
quarterback. Travis’s backup (after Tate Rodemaker entered the transfer portal),
Brock Glenn, threw for 139 yards with two interceptions.

Meanwhile, the team that the CFP committee picked instead of FSU, Alabama, took
No. 1 Michigan to overtime. And as Doug Gottlieb said on his Fox Sports radio
show: “You can’t get any closer than overtime.” 


FOX EYES ‘MASSIVE BID’ FOR CFP RIGHTS

I’m hearing that Fox Sports is weighing a “massive” bid to snatch all or parts
of the College Football Playoff away from ESPN. The strategy would make sense
for Fox. The network’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame show has closed the TV ratings
gap against ESPN’s iconic College GameDay. And Fox’s gambit to place its top
games in the noon Saturday window, rather than in primetime, has proven to be a
brilliant programming stroke by the company’s head of strategy and analytics,
Mike Mulvihill. 



The tell here came when Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch warned Wall Street that it was
“highly unlikely” he’d bid on the NBA against ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery
Sports. According to sources, Murdoch and Co. are building a war chest for other
rights negotiations. (At the same time, another source vowed that Fox would not
overpay for the CFP. The network is counting on ESPN’s newly disciplined
approach to rights negotiations.)

Fox and other networks will take their shot as the CFP expands to 12 teams in
2024. In ’26, the rights to the entire package will go up for bid, including for
the CFP National Championship. Coming up on the outside is NBC Sports, which
added Big Ten Conference rights to its existing Notre Dame package. Along with
the NBA’s rights, the CFP’s will be among the most eagerly sought-out sports
rights in 2024. 


MNF DRAWING BEST AUDIENCES OF ESPN ERA

Just a few years ago, insiders warned that ESPN’s iconic Monday Night Football
was running on fumes. But a more competitive game schedule and the addition of
Troy Aikman and Joe Buck in the broadcast booth have rejuvenated the NFL’s
original prime-time package. 

ESPN just wrapped up its most-watched season of MNF since taking over the
package from the former ABC Sports in 2006. MNF averaged 17.1 million viewers,
up 33% from last year. In a span of six weeks, ESPN has televised the three
most-watched MNF games since 1997.

Of course, simulcasting so many of those games on sister Disney network ABC has
helped goose the numbers. But Amazon Prime Video is riding the wave of strong
NFL viewership as well. The streaming giant’s Thursday Night Football coverage
averaged 11.86 million viewers this season, up 24%.  

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