ESPN Scores Cable’s 2 Biggest Audiences Ever With College Football Semis – Update

Deadline Hollywood reports:

Of all the folks who are excited about finally having a playoff to decide the champion of college football, ESPN’s execs must be near the top of the list. The Worldwide Leader said this afternoon that its semifinal games of the inaugural Oregon DucksCollege Football Playoff yesterday pulled the two biggest audiences in the history of cable television. Ohio State’s upset of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, which kicked off at 9 PM ET, averaged 28.3 million viewers, a tick above the 28.2 million Oregon’s destruction of Florida State averaged in the Rose Bowl at 5 PM ET. The Sugar Bowl scored a sweet 15.2 rating; the Rose Bowl bloomed with a 14.8.

Very big business.