ESPN’s presentation of the College Football Playoff was the fly in the ointment as The Disney Company led television viewership for the month of January according to Nielsen. The company released its monthly Media Distributor Gauge this morning, providing a snapshot of total broadcast, cable, and streaming consumption through a television screen. This report offers the industry valuable insights into audience viewing habits.
According to the report, Disney (ESPN) accounted for 12% of all time spent watching television in January. This marks the highest monthly share for any traditional media company since the report was first established in November 2023.
Typically, streaming platforms such as YouTube and Netflix dominate the rankings. However, Disney’s strong performance was driven by the immense interest in the College Football Playoff, which aired on its broadcast platforms. The report states that these playoff games represented the seven highest-rated cable telecasts of the month. As a result, ESPN experienced an 84% increase in monthly viewership compared to the previous month.
Despite this success, overall viewership on Disney’s platforms followed the traditional post-holiday decline, as audiences shifted away from normal viewing habits.
The first College Football Playoff National Championship under the expanded 12-team format saw a slight ratings decline in January. Ohio State’s victory over Notre Dame averaged 22.1 million viewers, marking a 12% drop compared to the previous year. The audience peaked between 8:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. ET, when 26.1 million fans were tuned in. Ultimately, this year’s championship ranked as the fourth least-watched title game of the past decade.
Even so, College Football Playoff games dominated the season’s most-watched matchups. Nine of the ten most-viewed games belonged to the playoff, with Georgia’s overtime win over Texas in the SEC Championship on ABC/ESPN ranking sixth in average viewership at 16.6 million.
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