TV Ratings: Sugar Bowl is sweet for FOX Friday

Rose Bowl lead-in doubles ratings for 'Better Off Ted'

Saturday, Jan 2, 2010 1:30 PM

Daniel Fienberg

Follow: RSS Facebook Twitter

Read more from Daniel Fienberg

TV Ratings: Sugar Bowl is sweet for FOX Friday

Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators

Credit: Dave Martin/AP

Fast National ratings for Friday, January 1, 2010.

The first primetime of 2010 was sweet for FOX, thanks to Florida's romp over Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl.

Meanwhile, a post-Rose Bowl airing of "Better Off Ted" doubled that comedy's ratings. But was that enough?

Among adults 18-49, FOX dominated Friday night with a 4.6 rating in the key demographic. ABC was a distant second with a 2.1 rating, with CBS' 1.0 rating and the 0.9 rating for NBC following. The CW trailed with a 0.5 rating.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 14.41 million viewers to go with a 7.8 rating/13 share. ABC's 4.3/7 and an audience of 7.16 million viewers finished second. CBS was third with a 3.1/5, beating the 2.2/4 for NBC. The CW's 0.8/1 was fifth.

ABC began the night in first with Rose Bowl post-game (10.8/18) and "Better Off Ted" (3.4/6). While obviously that's a huge drop for "Better Off Ted," the comedy hit season highs with 5.62 million viewers and a 1.7 rating in the key demo, so take that as you will. FOX was second with a 5.9/10 for Sugar Bowl pre-game and kickoff. CBS' "Ghost Whisperer" repeat topped NBC's repeat of "The Biggest Loser." The CW's "Smallville" repeat was fifth with a 0.9/1.

FOX took over first place at 9 p.m. with a 9.7/16 for the Florida-Cincy game, which also had a 5.7 rating in the key demo. CBS' "Medium" repeat took second with a 3.1/5. NBC's "Biggest Loser" had a 2.3/4 for third. On ABC, a new "Scrubs" (2.3/4) and a "Better Off Ted" repeat (1.8/3) were fourth, though it's worth noting that this repeat of "Better Off Ted" outperformed the original episode that aired on Tuesday. The CW's second "Smallville" repeat was fifth.

Although FOX's football was ongoing and presumably dominated the 10 p.m. hour, it doesn't factor into ratings, so ABC won the hour with a 3.7/6 for "20/20." CBS' "Numb3rs" repeat was second with a 3.2/6. NBC's repeat of "The Jay Leno Show" was third.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.