Ratings for ESPN's 2013 Bowl Telecasts Rise Over 2012

ESPN's first two Bowl Championship Series telecasts of 2013 - the Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO and Discover Orange Bowl on Tuesday, Jan. 1 - combined to average an 8.0 metered market rating, according to Nielsen. The two-game average marks an increase of 11 percent over a 7.2 average overnight rating for the 2012 Rose Bowl Presented by VIZIO and Discover Orange Bowl games.

The 2013 Discover Orange Bowl - No. 12 Florida State beating No. 15 Northern Illinois 31-10 - averaged a 6.5 overnight. With the telecast, ESPN won the night as television's most-watched network - broadcast or cable. This year's telecast is 44 percent higher than the 2012 game, a 4.5 rating for No. 23 West Virginia defeating No. 15 Clemson 70-33.

The 2013 Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO, in which No. 6 Stanford defeated unranked Wisconsin 20-14, earned a 9.6 overnight, the highest on cable television outside of ESPN's NFL games since the 2012 Bowl Championship Series National Championship. The telecast is down 3 percent from a 9.9 rating for last year's game, which saw No. 5 Oregon defeat No. 10 Wisconsin 45-38 in the highest scoring Rose Bowl Game ever.

In the markets of participating teams, the Rose Bowl Game Presented by VIZIO averaged a 31.1 rating in Milwaukee, the second highest rating for an ESPN bowl game in the market on record (back to 2000). ESPN's coverage earned a 12.3 rating in San Francisco, the market's third highest-rated bowl on ESPN networks. The telecast also averaged a 20.7 in Birmingham, 19.8 in Columbus, 15.6 in Dayton and 14.0 in Portland.

The Discover Orange Bowl averaged an 11.1 overnight in Chicago, the second highest ESPN bowl rating in Chicago on record. It also garnered a 14.1 in Jacksonville and 11.9 in Orlando, marking the fourth and third highest-rated bowl games on ESPN in the markets, respectively. ESPN's coverage recorded a 19.9 in Birmingham, 11.7 in Oklahoma City and 10.7 in Greenville.

ESPN & the BCS

ESPN's third year of exclusive coverage of the five BCS matchups will continue tonight with the Allstate Sugar Bowl (Tuesday, Jan. 2), Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Thursday, Jan. 3) and Discover BCS National Championship Game (Monday, Jan. 7). Overall, ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN will present all five BCS Bowl games with ESPN 3D also televising Allstate Sugar Bowl and Discover BCS National Championship Game.