Ratings and viewership for the Men’s NCAA Tournament National Championship Game dating back to 1975, including what the ratings for past games would have been in today’s Nielsen universe of 115.9 million TV homes.
Last year’s Duke/Butler National Championship Game drew a 14.2 rating and 23.944 million viewers, the highest rated title game since 2005, and the most-viewed since 2001.
The game was just the second of the past eight National Championship Games to draw at least 20 million viewers. To put that in perspective, the game hit that mark every single year from 1981 through 2002.
Just two years ago, the title game hit a record low rating of 10.8 as North Carolina easily defeated Michigan State.
The highest rated National Championship Game was Michigan State/Indiana State in 1979, featuring future NBA legends Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. The game’s 24.1 rating would equal a 15.5 in today’s Nielsen universe of 115.9 million homes.
Ratings/Viewership For the Men’s NCAA Tournament National Championship Game Since 1975
Numbers from 1975-2004 from Sports Business Daily (4/4/05)
| Year | Date | Game | Net | Rating |
Today
|
Viewers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2010
|
Mon., 4/5/10 | DUKE 61, BUT 59 | CBS |
14.2
|
14.0
|
23,944
|
|
2009
|
Mon., 4/6/10 | UNC 89, MSU 72 | CBS |
10.8
|
10.7
|
17,649
|
|
2008
|
Mon., 4/7/08 | KU 75, MEM 68 | CBS |
12.1
|
11.8
|
19,501
|
|
2007
|
Mon., 4/2/07 | UF 84, OSU 75 | CBS |
12.2
|
11.8
|
19,563
|
|
2006
|
Mon., 4/3/06 | UF 73, UCLA 57 | CBS |
11.2
|
10.6
|
17,543
|
|
2005
|
Mon., 4/4/05 | UNC 75, ILL 70 | CBS |
15.0
|
14.2
|
23,895
|
|
2004
|
Mon., 4/5/04 | CT 82, GT 73 | CBS |
11.0
|
10.3
|
17,088
|
|
2003
|
Mon., 4/7/03 | SYR 81, KU 78 | CBS |
12.6
|
11.6
|
18,573
|
|
2002
|
Mon., 4/1/02 | UMD 64, IND 52 | CBS |
15.0
|
13.6
|
23,686
|
|
2001
|
Mon., 4/2/01 | DUKE 82, ARIZ 72 | CBS |
15.6
|
13.8
|
23,970
|
|
2000
|
Mon., 4/3/00 | MSU 89, UF 76 | CBS |
14.1
|
12.2
|
20,587
|
|
1999
|
Mon., 3/29/99 | CONN 77, DUKE 74 | CBS |
17.2
|
14.8
|
26,304
|
|
1998
|
Mon., 3/30/98 | UK 78, UTAH 69 | CBS |
17.8
|
15.1
|
26,601
|
|
1997
|
Mon., 3/31/97 | ARIZ 84, UK 79 | CBS |
18.9
|
15.8
|
28,364
|
|
1996
|
Mon., 4/1/96 | UK 76, SYR 67 | CBS |
18.3
|
15.1
|
26,670
|
|
1995
|
Mon., 4/3/95 | UCLA 89, ARK 78 | CBS |
19.3
|
15.9
|
27,405
|
|
1994
|
Mon., 4/4/94 | ARK 76, DUKE 72 | CBS |
21.6
|
17.6
|
32,733
|
|
1993
|
Mon., 4/5/93 | UNC 77, MICH 71 | CBS |
22.2
|
17.8
|
32,941
|
|
1992
|
Mon., 4/6/92 | DUKE 71, MICH 51 | CBS |
22.7
|
18.0
|
34,310
|
|
1991
|
Mon., 4/1/91 | DUKE 72, KU 65 | CBS |
19.4
|
15.6
|
29,020
|
|
1990
|
Mon., 4/2/90 | UNLV 103, DUKE 73 | CBS |
20.0
|
15.9
|
29,260
|
|
1989
|
Mon., 4/3/89 | MICH 80, SHU 79 | CBS |
21.3
|
16.6
|
31,120
|
|
1988
|
Mon., 4/4/88 | KU 83, OU 79 | CBS |
18.8
|
14.4
|
26,690
|
|
1987
|
Mon., 3/30/87 | IND 74, SYR 73 | CBS |
23.1
|
17.4
|
32,060
|
|
1986
|
Mon., 3/31/86 | LOU 72, DUKE 69 | CBS |
20.7
|
15.3
|
28,710
|
|
1985
|
Mon., 4/1/85 | VILL 66, GTWN 64 | CBS |
23.3
|
17.1
|
31,230
|
|
1984
|
Mon., 4/2/84 | GTWN 84, HOU 75 | CBS |
19.7
|
14.2
|
25,140
|
|
1983
|
Mon., 4/4/83 | NCSU 54, HOU 52 | CBS |
22.3
|
16.0
|
32,140
|
|
1982
|
Mon., 3/29/82 | UNC 63, GTWN 62 | CBS |
21.6
|
15.2
|
30,589
|
|
1981
|
Mon., 3/30/81 | IND 63, UNC 50 | NBC |
20.7
|
13.9
|
29,060
|
|
1980
|
Mon., 3/24/80 | LOU 59, UCLA 54 | NBC |
19.8
|
13.0
|
—
|
|
1979
|
Mon, 3/26/79 | MSU 75, INSU 64 | NBC |
24.1
|
15.5
|
35,110
|
|
1978
|
Mon., 3/27/78 | UK 94, DUKE 88 | NBC |
19.9
|
12.5
|
25,378
|
|
1977
|
Mon., 3/28/77 | MARQ 67, UNC 59 | NBC |
19.3
|
11.9
|
26,400
|
|
1976
|
Mon., 3/29/76 | IND 86, MICH 68 | NBC |
20.4
|
12.3
|
26,710
|
|
1975
|
Mon., 3/31/75 | UCLA 92, KU 85 | NBC |
21.3
|
12.6
|
30,085
|
UPDATE 4/6/11: An earlier edition of this post said that last year’s title game drew 23.994 million viewers, the highest since 1999. However, last year’s game actually drew 23.944 million, the highest since 2001.
