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College Football Playoff title game delivers highest overnight rating in ESPN history

Ohio State Buckeyes players celebrate on the podium after the 2015 CFP National Championship Game.(Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)
Ohio State Buckeyes players celebrate on the podium after the 2015 CFP National Championship Game.(Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)

Monday night’s College Football Playoff Championship Game was the most-watched program in ESPN history.

The inaugural CFP title game, in which Ohio State knocked off Oregon 42-20, generated an 18.5 overnight rating, ESPN’s highest metered market ever according to Nielsen.

According to ESPN, Monday night’s game saw a “21% increase” in viewership compared to Florida State’s win over Auburn in the 2014 BCS Championship Game, which had a 15.3 rating. Previously, ESPN’s highest-ranked broadcast was the 2011 BCS Championship between Auburn and Oregon.

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The rating peaked Monday night at 20.5 between 9:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.

Predictably, Columbus, Ohio, was the top market with a 51.2 rating. Portland, Ore., was fourth with a 37.6 rating. Other top markets, via ESPN, included:

The top 10 metered markets (in addition to those of the competing teams) are the following: Columbus, Dayton (43.8), Cleveland (41.3), Portland, Birmingham (36.1), Cincinnati (26.5), Jacksonville (25.7), Knoxville (25.5), Greenville (24.1) and Atlanta (23.0).

Additionally, ESPN says it set overnight “post season college football records for a game on ESPN” in the following cities: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Ft. Myers, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

That 12-year, $7.3 billion deal certainly seems to be paying off for the worldwide leader.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!