College basketball is one of the strongest sports television properties, but the first weekend in March was nothing to brag about for CBS.
CBS aired six college basketball games this weekend, and all six saw double digit ratings declines.
On Saturday, CBS averaged a 1.5 overnight for a college basketball tripleheader, down 21% from a 1.9 last year. Duke/NC State was down 11%, Georgetown/Marquette down 12%, and the third game fell a whopping 41%.
Sunday, another tripleheader averaged a 1.7 overnight, down 26% from a 2.3 last year. Kentucky/Tennessee was off 10%, Indiana/Michigan State down 11%, and the final game of the tripleheader fell 47% from the comparable Duke/North Carolina game in the same timeslot last year.
A major reason for the declines this year may have to do with how good the match-ups were last year. In 2007, CBS had games featuring Kevin Durant and Greg Oden, in addition to a Duke/North Carolina game that ended with Tyler Hansbrough getting hit in the face.
With college basketball lacking some of the star power it had last year, ratings on broadcast are down. TV Week.com reports that “ratings for broadcast outlets [CBS and ABC] … show the sport is down year-to-year, as much as 13% in households and 11% in the men 18-34 demo.”
Despite declining ratings on broadcast, college basketball is doing fine on cable. ESPN recently aired its most watched college basketball game ever when #1 Memphis lost to #2 Tennessee. The network is averaging a 1.0 cable rating for college basketball games this year, up 11%.
College basketball on CBS last weekend.
1.9/5: Kentucky/Tennessee (12 PM Sunday); down 10% from ’07.
1.6/4: Duke/NC State (12 PM Saturday); down 11% from ’07.
1.6/4: Indiana/Michigan State (2 PM Sunday); down 11% from ’07.
1.6/3: Regional action (4 PM Sunday); down 47% from ’07.
1.5/4: Georgetown/Marquette (2 PM Saturday); down 12% from ’07.
1.3/3: Regional action (4 PM Saturday); down 41% from ’07.
