ESPN has shared that January was a banner month for the network, seeing its second-most-watched month in the past three decades.
The network’s records go back to 1996, with the 1.7 million viewers averaged throughout January marking the near record-setting performance.
The 1.7 million average viewership figures mark a 12% uptick compared to the same time period in 2025.
During January, ESPN had back-to-back days of high-stakes football broadcasts between college and the NFL. On Sunday, January 18th, an AFC Divisional Round game pitting the New England Patriots against the Houston Texans was broadcast at 3 PM ET. The following day, the network aired the College Football National Championship Game, as Indiana won its first title in a tight contest over the Miami Hurricanes.
According to figures from Nielsen, 43% of all sports viewing in January took place on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN Deportes.
Furthermore, 89.6 billion minutes were spent watching ESPN and ESPN on ABC. That marked a 10% increase year-over-year and is the best month since ESPN and ABC Sports combined forces in 2006.
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