Executives at the CBS and Turner Sports headquarters in New York and Atlanta must be doing backflips and handstands over the numbers for the NCAA Tournament.
Through Sunday, the Tournament has averaged 9.8 million viewers. That’s the highest viewership since 1993. The average rating is 6.2 with a 13 share and that’s tied with last year’s rating.
For Saturday, TBS averaged 7.2 million viewers for the South Regional Final between Dayton and Florida and 9.9 million for Arizona-Wisconsin the highest viewership for college basketball games on cable.
Here’s the CBS/Turner announcement.
2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Averaging 9.8 Million Total Viewers; Highest Viewership in 21 Years
CBS Sports and Turner Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship – across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV – is delivering its highest viewership in 21 years (since 1993). Through last night (Sunday, March 30), the NCAA Tournament is averaging 9.8 million total viewers, based on Nielsen Fast Nationals.
This year’s NCAA Tournament is averaging a 6.2/13 U.S. HH rating/share, tied with last year as the highest rating for the tournament since 2005.
The Final Four on Saturday, April 5 will be televised on TBS for the first time along with “teamcasts” or team-specific telecasts airing on TNT and truTV. The National Championship Game on Monday, April 7, will air on CBS for the 33rd consecutive year.
Source: Nielsen Media Research, Fast Nationals, Live +SD data stream through Elite Eight Saturday of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. 3/18/14 to 03/30/14 vs. 03/19/13 to 03/31/13. 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 averages based on weighted average of 4 telecast gross across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Historical audiences, CBS 1991 through 2005 based on Live data.
There it is.
