Article published January 07, 2003
Fiesta Bowl a winner for TV stations
74% of area viewers were tuned in to game
By DONALD EMMONS
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
If you weren't in front of a television Friday night watching Ohio State post a double-overtime victory over Miami to claim college football's national championship, you were seriously in the minority around Toledo.
The game, which the Buckeyes won 31-24, drew an estimated 47 rating and a 74 share in the Toledo television market. In other words, 74 percent of the televisions turned on in Toledo were tuned to the game that aired locally on ABC affiliate WTVG, Channel13. That meant approximately 400,000 Toledo and area viewers were tuned in to the game.
WTVG general manager David L. Zamichow said he expected high viewership for the game, but the estimated numbers even exceeded his expectations.
"It's about four times higher, maybe five times higher than normal for that time," Zamichow said. "We had told advertisers to expect a 42 or 44 share."
A rating is the percentage of households tuned to a particular program from the total available television households. A share is the percentage of households with televisions turned on that are tuned to a particular program.
Nationally, the Fiesta Bowl drew the highest TV rating since the Bowl Championship Series began pairing the top teams in the title game following the 1998 season.
The game drew an estimated 18.6 national rating. Columbus (52.1), Cleveland (42.7), Dayton (38.5) and Cincinnati (33.6) produced the highest ratings among the top 55 television markets rated across the country. Miami in comparison, drew a 25 rating and a 39 share.
Toledo, which ranks nationally as the 68th-largest TV market, ranked second only to Columbus within the state with its 47 rating. Zamichow said Toledo's ratings and share numbers are determined by averaging the Columbus and Cleveland numbers. Zamichow said television numbers for Toledo are typically lower than Columbus and typically higher than Cleveland for college sports programming.
Zamichow said the game peaked at an 80 share around midnight, approximately the time when the game headed into the first overtime.
"Who knew it was going to be a double-overtime game?" Zamichow said. "When you have a game that close it keeps people watching."
The OSU-Michigan game that took place on Nov. 23 drew an 80 share for Channel 13.
Zamichow said the ratings for the Fiesta Bowl are more impressive considering the Fiesta Bowl took place during prime time when television viewers typically have a "greater diversity" of programs to choose from.
Also, Zamichow said Channel 13's one-hour Fiesta Bowl lead-in show did better than expected. He said the show, hosted by news anchor Lee Conklin and sports anchor Rob Powers from Tempe, Ariz., produced a "12 or 13" rating and a 25 share. The one-hour weeknight time slot, which is normally filled by Entertainment Tonight and Hollywood Squares, normally averages an 8 rating, according to Zamichow.
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