Chart updated with persons 2+ audiences for the four games played Saturday and Sunday March 28-29, 2015 (the Elite Eight Round):
- Telecast 61: TBS Saturday 6:00 pm #1-Wisconsin 85 #2-Arizona 78 (Arizona up 33-30 at half)
- Telecast 62: TBS Saturday 8:40 pm #1-Kentucky 68 #3-Notre Dame 66 (Tied 31-31 at half)
- Telecast 63: CBS Sunday 2:20 pm #7-Michigan State 76 #4-Louisville 70 (Louisville up 40-32 at half)
- Telecast 64: CBS Sunday 5:03 pm #1-Duke 66 #2-Gonzaga 52 (Duke up 31-26 at half)
The early Saturday game on TBS (telecast 61) was just a bit above the same time period the last few years, but the Kentucky-Notre Dame game at 8:40 pm Saturday on TBS (telecast 62) delivered a terrific 14,747,000 persons 2+, well above the 10 to 11 million viewers 2+ for the comparable game in the past few years. TBS is now delivering broadcast-like numbers.
Ratings for telecast 63 (the Sunday afternoon game on CBS) will be reported Thursday along with the rest of the broadcast ratings outside of prime time from the past week. Ratings from telecast 64 is available because that game ended in prime time, and it was another average performance for CBS (14,746,000 for Duke-Gonzaga, nearly identical to last year and down almost a million viewers from two years ago).
Tournament to Date Ratings Averages
NCAA Basketball Tournament averages for Persons 2+ live+same day. Through the second Sunday of the tournament (the conclusion of the Elite Eight round), missing only the CBS Sunday early afternoon game (telecast 63).
CBS is still pacing behind 2014 with total viewers (persons 2+) and now is slightly behind the 2013 pace. After the strong Saturday performance, TBS is approaching 4 million viewers to date after being close to 3 million the last two years. As a whole across the four networks, the NCAA tournament is pacing slightly ahead of the last few years.
|
NCAA Basketball Tournament: PERSONS 2+ Audience Averages through second Sunday (telecasts 1-62 & 64) |
|||||
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | ||
| CBS | 6,098,000 | 6,482,000 | 6,700,000 | 6,384,000 | |
| TBS | 2,453,000 | 2,903,000 | 3,176,000 | 3,791,000 | |
| TNT | 1,856,000 | 2,198,000 | 2,429,000 | 2,450,000 | |
| TRU | 1,177,000 | 1,278,000 | 1,260,000 | 1,348,000 | |
| All Nets | 3,349,000 | 3,683,000 | 3,757,000 | 3,855,000 | |
With men 18-49, the numbers for the entire tournament are slightly behind last year but exactly even with 2012. While CBS is well below the pace of the last three years, TBS is picking up the difference.
|
NCAA Basketball Tournament: MEN 18-49 Rating Averages through second Sunday (telecasts 1-62 & 64) |
|||||
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | ||
| CBS | 2.95 | 2.91 | 3.02 | 2.71 | |
| TBS | 1.37 | 1.58 | 1.65 | 1.80 | |
| TNT | 0.98 | 1.15 | 1.27 | 1.32 | |
| TRU | 0.69 | 0.70 | 0.66 | 0.73 | |
| All Nets | 1.71 | 1.78 | 1.81 | 1.78 | |
NEXT UPDATE: Late this week we will update these numbers with the missing CBS Sunday game (telecast 63). And early next week we will have results from the Final Four games on Saturday and the National Championship on Monday.
About the Author
