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Alabama-Georgia title game scores big audience for ESPN

"The record-breaking audiences, over the course of multiple years, clearly reinforce how the College Football Playoff has quickly established itself as an elite event on the sports calendar,"
Jan 8, 2018; Atlanta,GA, USA; CFP executive director Bill Hancock (left) awards the trophy to Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban in the 2018 CFP national championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Monday night's national championship game telecast of Alabama's thrilling 26-23 overtime win against Georgia on ESPN was the second most-watched cable event ever, the network announced on Tuesday afternoon.

An average of 28.4 million people watched the College Football Playoff championship that was decided in overtime, a 13% increase from last year's similarly close nail-biter that saw Clemson edge Alabama.

Earlier Tuesday, ESPN reported the game scored an overnight rating of 16.7, up 9% from last year's title game. Only the Oregon-Ohio State CFP championship game in January 2015 had a bigger rating (18.8) and more viewers (33.9 million), which was also on ESPN.

"The record-breaking audiences, over the course of multiple years, clearly reinforce how the College Football Playoff has quickly established itself as an elite event on the sports calendar," Burke Magnus, ESPN's executive vice president of programming and scheduling, said in a statement. "Last night's thrilling finish coupled with ESPN's innovative MegaCast presentation showcased the incredible strength of college football and the deep connection live sports have with fans."

While the peak audience tuned in Monday night early in the first half (with an 18.4 rating and a viewership of 30.75 million), the game's rating was amplified by a 17.1 rating during the College Football Playoff's first overtime — from midnight to 12:15 a.m ET.

Birmingham had the highest local rating (57.6), and the game's host city, Atlanta, was close behind with a 47.8 rating, a high for an ESPN-aired college football game in the same market.

As a whole, the three College Football Playoff games, including the semifinals on New Year's Day (Alabama vs. Clemson and Georgia vs. Oklahoma) were up 18% from 2017 with a 14.9 total overnight rating.

Most notably, the New Year's Six games and title game — seven games altogether — totaled a record 9.8 overnight rating. All 35 bowl games and the national championship televised by ESPN totaled a 3.4 overnight rating, up 10% from last year's schedule.

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