The CW scored big with its first college bowl game.
The Wyoming Cowboys posted a win over the Toledo Rockets in the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl on Saturday, drawing 1.1 million total viewers, according to Nielsen.
The game, which the Cowboys won by a field goal as the game clock expired, is now one of the CW’s top three telecasts of the past two years in both total viewers and the 18-49 demographic , which includes 320,000 people which is switched on. The game peaked with 1.9 million viewers in the final fifteen minutes.
That’s a pretty big audience for The CW, which rarely draws a million viewers for its regular programming. While the Group 5 contest didn’t quite reach the numbers of a Power 5 ball game, it still shows the power of live sports in a declining broadcast landscape.
The Arizona Bowl is the network’s second-largest college football game to date, behind the Florida State-North Alabama game, which drew 1.3 million viewers in November. This shouldn’t be a surprise as Florida State had a great, undefeated regular season that was sure to draw a sizeable crowd.
According to Nielsen, the Arizona Bowl outperformed the UCLA men’s basketball game. Oregon, which aired on CBS during the same period, at about 41%.
“The CW’s first college ball game in network history was the centerpiece of Saturday’s eight hours of live sports programming, in addition to our ACC men’s basketball doubleheader, highlighting the power of sports on The CW,” said Brad Schwartz, president of entertainment at The CW said. Network. “Live sports continues to deliver new ratings for The CW, expanding the reach of broadcast television and establishing the channel as a premier destination for quality free-to-play games that appeal to all sports fans.
Source: Deadline
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
