For the third consecutive day, CBS/Turner have seen combined overnight ratings that are the highest for the NCAA Tournament since 1991 when the tourney expanded to four national windows. Saturday’s overnight ratings were a very good 6.7 with a share of 15, up 12% from last year when the tournament was entirely on CBS. So the lesson we learn that regionalizing is not always good. And having four national games especially in the NCAA Tournament is what the American people want.
The ratings for the tournament have been averaging 5.9/14 which includes the FIRST FOUR® games. We have the press release from CBS/Turner.
THE 2011 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ON CBS, TBS, TNT AND truTV CONTINUES TO SCORE HIGHEST OVERALL TOURNAMENT-TO-DATE AVERAGE RATINGS IN 20 YEARS
Saturday’s Coverage Delivers 12% Overnight Household Growth
CBS Sports’ and Turner Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV combined, continues to deliver the best overall tournament-to-date average ratings in the metered markets in 20 years through Saturday’s games. The overall tournament average-to-date, including the FIRST FOUR, in the metered markets is a 5.9/14, up +18% from a 5.0/12 for CBS Sports’ 2010 coverage according to Nielsen.
Coverage on Saturday, March 19 combined to deliver an overnight household rating/share of 6.7/15, up 12% from a 6.0/14 for CBS Sports’ 2010 coverage.
I expect the final ratings later today and sometime around 11:30 p.m., the tip times for the Sweet Sixteen.
