ESPN rode its College Football Playoffs championship game coverage back to the top primetime ratings spot among cable networks last week, according to Nielsen.
ESPN averaged 4.1 million viewers to top all cable networks for the week of Jan. 11 to Jan. 17, besting last week's winner Fox News’ 2.0 million viewers, and HGTV and Disney’s 1.6 million watchers each, said Nielsen. TBS, TNT and Discovery all tied for fifth with 1.4 million viewers, while USA and Fox Business Network (tied with 1.3 million) and History (1.2 million) rounded out the top 10.
ESPN also swept all other major weekly ratings categories, including total day and adults 18-49. Nickelodeon was the top choice among kids 2 to 11 while Disney was tops among the 6 to 11 age group.
Most Watched Cable Shows During the Week of Jan. 11-17
Date Show Network Total Viewers
1/11 CFP Title game Alabama/Clemson (8:27-11:45 pm) ESPN 25.6 million
1/11 CFP Title game Alabama/Clemson (11:45-12:27 am) ESPN 23.6 million
1/14 Republican Presidential Debate FBN 11.0 million
1/11 CFP Post Game Show ESPN 9.0 million
1/11 CFP Pre-Game Show ESPN 8.0 million
1/15 Gold Rush Discovery 4.0 million
1/14 Cavuto Coast To Coast FBN 3.9 million
1/12 State Of The Union Speech Analysis Fox News 3.8 million
1/12 Fixer Upper HGTV 3.8 million
1/11 SportsCenter ESPN 3.6 million
Source: Nielsen
