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Did anyone consider that viewership might be down because it was on ESPN? A local station might have led to more viewers.
… and also affected by being on Inauguration Day AND a national holiday long weekend. The NCAA basketball national championship game has seen much higher ratings the years it is on CBS as opposed to cable the other years.
Ah yes, Monday night, the perfect time to captivate America’s undivided attention—except for that minor historical distraction known as “Trump’s Epic Inauguration Party: Second Term Edition.” With an estimated 24.6 million viewers and the most ever streamed video on X, formerly Twitter, with 6.8 million views. Who wouldn’t want to miss nail-biting political commentary for some good old-fashioned gridiron glory? I’m sure ESPN was thrilled about their timing.
I mean, what’s a mere 22.1 million viewers compared to the wall-to-wall coverage of inaugural handshakes, MAGA ball gowns, and—let’s not forget—the crowd counting controversy! The game tried, though. Peaking at 26.1 million viewers in the second quarter, it still couldn’t match the raw suspense of the cable news networks measuring crowd sizes, counting the confetti cannons, or watching every move in order to start their next phony outrage (i.e. Elon thanking the crowd with a hand over the his heart and throwing it out there).
Also, let’s not brush past that little “historical” trend: another championship game, another double-digit viewer drop. Apparently, “close-but-not-really games” and predictable blowouts have the magnetic draw of a wet paper towel. It’s truly no wonder Georgia’s 65-7 snore-fest against TCU in 2023 managed to pull even fewer eyeballs. Monday nights really are the graveyard of grand sporting events, unless, of course, it involves a Manning sibling breaking records or Tom Brady unretiring again.
So here’s to Ohio State and ESPN—may you someday find an audience immune to political inaugurations, mid-week fatigue, and predictable halftime leads. But hey, at least you still beat last week’s bowling tournament on ESPN3!
Because college football is now pro football.