Perhaps people are just not interested in basketball being played in San Antonio.
Despite having the star power of all four #1 seeds, overnight ratings for the Final Four fell by double-digits. The National Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament averaged an 8.0 overnight rating on CBS, down 14% from a 9.3 last year, and the lowest average for the Final Four since the war-affected 2003 NCAA Tournament.
Ominously, the 8.0 average is only 4% higher than the 7.7 average overnight for the ’03 Final Four.
Memphis/UCLA drew a 7.2 overnight, the lowest for a Final Four game in five years. The 7.2 marks a 20% decline from the 9.0 for Ohio State/Georgetown last year. Kansas/North Carolina drew an 8.8 overnight, down 7% from Florida/UCLA in ’07.
The 2008 NCAA Tournament is well on its way to being the second-lowest rated ever. Prior to the Final Four, ratings were already down 7%.
Final Four overnight ratings.
since 2003
2008: 7.2 and 8.8
2007: 9.0 and 9.5
2006: 9.5 and 8.5
2005: 10.3 and 11.4
2004: 8.4 and 10.3
2003*: 6.8 and 8.6
* 2003 NCAA Tournament coverage was affected by the Iraq War.
