The NCAA Tournament began in earnest on Thursday and with an evening of four overtime games, the excitement brought the fans out in droves.
Overall, CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV garnered a 6.0 overnight rating with a 14 share making it the highest first Thursday rating for the games in 23 years. That’s up from last year’s 5.6/14.
The first primetime window which ran between 6:45 p.m. ET to 10:30 p.m. ET which had three OT’s had the highest rating averaging a 7.7/15 which is the highest rating in that timeslot since the NCAA Tournament went to four broadcast windows in 1991.
Overall, CBS/Turner is averaging a 5.6/12 for the entire 2014 Tournament. That includes the four play-in games from Tuesday and Wednesday. By the way, they totaled a 3.9 rating on truTV and 5.9 million viewers which are the highest numbers for those games since they began in 2011. In addition, Iowa-Tennessee on Wednesday averaged a 1.4 rating and a 1.7 million viewers which is the highest for a play-in game.
Here are the numbers from Thursday.
2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Scores Highest Overnight Rating for First Thursday of Tournament in 23 Years
Thursday’s NCAA Tournament Coverage Earns 6.0 Overnight Rating, Up 3% vs. 2013
NCAA Tournament Ratings Up 8% Through First Three DaysCBS Sports and Turner Sports’ exclusive second-round coverage of the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV on Thursday, March 20, delivered the highest rating for the first Thursday of the NCAA Tournament in 23 years (since the tournament expanded to four telecast windows for the entire day in 1991). Thursday’s games averaged a 6.0/14 overnight ratings/share, up 3% compared with a 5.8/14 in 2013, according to Nielsen metered market ratings.
The overall tournament average rating, including the NCAA First Four, is a 5.6/12, up 8% from a 5.2/12 last year, and is also the highest rating for the tournament at this point in the event since 1991.
Thursday’s coverage, which made NCAA Tournament history with four overtime games in one day, showed ratings growth among the telecast windows.
- The first daytime telecast window (12:00-4:45 p.m. ET) averaged a 4.6/15 to deliver the highest rating for the time slot in 23 years. The telecast window is up 12% compared with a 4.1/14 last year.
- The second daytime telecast window (2:45-7:15 p.m.) averaged a 5.4/14 to garner the second highest rating for the time slot since 1991.
- The first primetime telecast window (6:45-10:30 p.m.) averaged a 7.7/15 to register the highest rating for the time slot in 23 years. The window is up 4% over a 7.4/14 in 2013.
- The second primetime window (9:30 p.m.-1:45 a.m.) averaged a 6.2/12.
Source: Nielsen Media Research, Arianna, Live +SD data stream. 3/18/14 to 03/20/13 vs. 03/19/13 to 03/21/13. 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.
That is all.
