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College football fans in Birmingham, Alabama have been leading the country this year when it comes to what markets have had more people watching bowl games this year. On Thursday night, they shattered their own records with a 67.4 DMA rating. This is definitely a WOW number, but perhaps not totally unexpected as the Crimson Tide of Alabama was playing for the national championship.

Here is a full release from ESPN about this ratings surge.

BCS Championship Scores Biggest Audience for Title Game Since 2006

Last night’s Citi BCS Championship Game on ABC – Alabama’s 37-21 victory over Texas, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. – was the most-viewed BCS title game since 2006, the last time ABC broadcast the contest (Texas vs. USC, January 2006, also at the Rose Bowl). An average of 19,730,000 households were tuned in, based on a 17.2 rating. Those both represent an increase of nine percent over last year’s Oklahoma-Florida matchup (18,117,000 homes, 15.8 rating). The increase for viewers (P2+) was 15%, from 26,778,000 people to 30,776,000.

The game generated ABC’s biggest Thursday night audience since October 26, 1995, and the biggest audience for any television network in nearly a year, since ABC’s presentation of the Academy Awards on February 22, 2009.

The game drew particularly large audiences in a number of southeastern and Texas markets. (Bowl records are for all networks, broadcast or cable, and are based on information available as cited below).

Birmingham DMA = 67.4, highest rated Bowl game in Birmingham in recent years. The previous high was the Sugar Bowl, Alabama/Utah on FOX (1/2/09) with a 45.4 rtg.

Austin DMA = 47.8, highest rated Bowl game in Austin in recent years. The previous high was the National Championship Game, USC/Texas on ABC (1/4/06) with a 47.7 rtg.

San Antonio DMA = 37.2, highest rated Bowl game in San Antonio in recent years. The previous high was the National Championship Game, USC/Texas on ABC (1/4/06) with a 36.8 rtg.

Nashville DMA = 33.4, highest rated Bowl game in Nashville in recent years. The previous high was the National Championship Game, Oklahoma/Florida on FOX (1/8/09) with a 24.8 rtg.

Knoxville DMA = 31.7, highest rated Bowl game in Knoxville in recent years. The previous high was the National Championship Game, Florida/OSU on FOX (1/8/07) with a 28.3 rtg.

Atlanta DMA = 29.9, highest rated Bowl game in Atlanta in recent years. The previous high was the National Championship Game, LSU/OSU on FOX (1/7/08) with a 25.6 rtg.

Memphis DMA = 25.1, highest rated Bowl game in Memphis in recent years. The previous high was the National Championship Game, Oklahoma/Florida on FOX (1/8/09) with a 23.9 rtg.

Dallas DMA = 31.3, second highest rated Bowl game in Dallas in recent years. The highest is the National Championship Game, USC/Texas on ABC (1/4/06) with a 34.6 rtg.

Houston DMA = 29.7, second highest rated Bowl game in Houston in recent years. The highest is the National Championship Game, USC/Texas on ABC (1/4/06) with a 36.8 rtg.

Bowl Game records for overnight metered market ratings go back to:

ABC: 2005-06
NBC: 2005-06
CBS: 2005-06
FOX: 2005-06
ESPN: 2000-01
ESPN2: 2000-01