NCAA Basketball Title Game Gets 37% Fewer Viewers in Cable Debut

[Tugg Speedman]

Remember that last year's championship game was on CBS

NCAA Basketball Title Game Gets 37% Fewer Viewers in Cable Debut


Villanova's last-second victory over North Carolina in the U.S. men's college basketball championship, which aired on cable TV for the first time Monday night, drew 37 percent fewer viewers than last year's title match.

The 77-74 thriller that ended with a three-point shot at the buzzer attracted 17.8 million total viewers on TNT, TBS and TruTv, all Time Warner Inc. networks, according to a statement Tuesday. That's down 37 percent from the 28.3 million who tuned in a year ago to see Duke beat Wisconsin on CBS in the NCAA championship. That game was the most-watched in 18 years.

The ratings, while down sharply from a year ago, marked the second-biggest cable audience ever for a college basketball game, according to the statement from Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting unit, which aired the tournament with CBS Corp. The matchup was also the most-watched program across all TV on Monday.

[GooooMarquette]

And in the coming years, EVERY college hoops fan alive today will claim to have watched the game live.

[brandx]

Are these only cable numbers?

Do they include people watching on mobile devices?

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

I would guess the live stream did well.

[ChuckyChip]

How much does the late start affect these ratings?  I still can't understand the logic of a 9:20pm tipoff in the eastern time zone.  Younger kids and folks who have to get up for work are going to have a hard time making it to the end of the game.  I suppose this is partially done for the west coast - 6:20 tipoff out there(?).  Just seems crazy late to me.

[Skitch]

That's some mighty fine use of copy and paste

[#UnleashSean]

How much was the final four viewership down?

Im suspecting that took a hit as well since the Counterstrike Major Championship semifinals was airing at the same time as the Villanova game. It pinned a U.S team (the first to reach the final four in 4 years) vs a Brazilian team. Held in Columbus Ohio to 12,000 fans at nationwide. It broke 2 million viewers, of which I'm assuming 70% were American. I'd really like to see the hit the final four took since they both market the same age range.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

How much was the final four viewership down?

Im suspecting that took a hit as well since the Counterstrike Major Championship semifinals was airing at the same time as the Villanova game. It pinned a U.S team (the first to reach the final four in 4 years) vs a Brazilian team. Held in Columbus Ohio to 12,000 fans at nationwide. It broke 2 million viewers, of which I'm assuming 70% were American. I'd really like to see the hit the final four took since they both market the same age range.

Teal?

[#UnleashSean]

Teal?

Nope. The LoL championship beat the world series in viewership last october.

[keefe]

I would guess the live stream did well.

I plugged into the running machine tv at my club and was watching the Nova  - OU game but horrified to hear the blatant homerism for OU of the announcers. That is when I figured out they were streaming the respective team broadcasts.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Nope. The LoL championship beat the world series in viewership last october.

Okay maybe but I feel like the demographic is completely different. The people who would watch the LoL or counter strike championships would not watch the NCAA final in the first place.

[GGGG]

How much does the late start affect these ratings?  I still can't understand the logic of a 9:20pm tipoff in the eastern time zone.  Younger kids and folks who have to get up for work are going to have a hard time making it to the end of the game.  I suppose this is partially done for the west coast - 6:20 tipoff out there(?).  Just seems crazy late to me.

I think the championship game has been tipping off around the same time for decades.

[#UnleashSean]

Okay maybe but I feel like the demographic is completely different. The people who would watch the LoL or counter strike championships would not watch the NCAA final in the first place.

I mean, most people who are into the competitive sides of video games are usually high school or college athletes. When I was playing for a living my team consisted of a collegiate wrestler, 3 old high school basketball players, and me (playing d2 naia).  There is definitely a large portion that watch both.