Bowl Games Lose TV Viewers : Football: Five of the seven seen on the three major networks received smaller ratings than last year, according to an overnight survey.

New Year’s Day’s college bowl games proved to be a big turnoff to television viewers, with five of the seven games seen on the three major networks receiving smaller ratings than a year before, according to overnight ratings from the 24-major metered markets released today.

Colorado’s 10-9 national championship-clinching victory over Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl again proved to be the most-watched game, drawing an 18.6 rating or about 17.3 million households to NBC. When the two teams met in the 1990 Orange Bowl, the game had a 19.8 rating, 18.2 million households.

The Sugar Bowl, which ran opposite the Orange Bowl on ABC, had a 4.2 rating (3.9 million households) for Tennessee’s 23-22 win over Virginia, off 3.2 points from 1990.

This season, one ratings point is equivalent to 931,000 households. Last season, one ratings point was equivalent to 921,000 households.

ABC’s Rose Bowl continued its ratings decline. Washington’s 46-34 win over Iowa drew a 13 rating (12.1 million households.) If that number holds up when national ratings are released later today, it would be the lowest rating in the game’s history.

The Rose Bowl’s ratings have gone through an almost continual decrease since 1983, when it was the highest-rated bowl game. That year, UCLA’s 24-14 win over Michigan on NBC drew a 24.5 rating (20.4 million households), but the Rose Bowl has not come close to matching those numbers since. The 1990 USC-Michigan Rose Bowl had a 15.1 rating, 13.9 million households.

NBC’s Fiesta Bowl, which had to settle for a matchup between Louisville, ranked 18th entering the game, and No. 25 Alabama saw its ratings slump from a 8.2 (7.5 million households) for the 1990 game featuring Florida State and Nebraska to a 5.6 (5.2 million). The Fiesta Bowl was hurt because Notre Dame and Virginia opted for other games following Arizona’s voters rejection of a paid state holiday honoring civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

NBC’s Hall of Fame Bowl recorded the biggest ratings decline, dropping from a 9.3 rating to a 5.4.

The two games showing ratings increases were CBS’ Cotton Bowl (Miami vs. Texas), 9.6--up 2.7 points, and ABC’s Citrus Bowl (Nebraska vs. Georgia Tech), 9.3--up 2.3 points.