The first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament brought increased ratings to CBS.
Through Sunday, the 2009 NCAA Tournament is averaging a 5.4/12 overnight rating on CBS, up 6% from a 5.1/12 through the same point in ’08. Coverage on Sunday averaged a 6.4 overnight rating, up 10% from a 5.8 last year, and Saturday’s games averaged a 6.3 overnight, up 5%.
The highest rated window of the tournament so far came on Sunday evening, when CBS averaged an 8.1 for regional coverage featuring #1 seeds Pittsburgh and Louisville.
The next two highest rated windows came on Saturday evening, when CBS drew a 7.5 for regional coverage featuring LSU/North Carolina at 5:45 PM, and a 6.6 for coverage featuring Texas/Duke at 8:45 PM. The latter window was up 20% from the comparable games last year.
So far, seven of CBS’ fifteen NCAA Tournament telecast windows have drawn at least a 6.0 overnight rating.
Overnight ratings for the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
Source: Sports Business Daily
| Date | Time | Featured game | Net | Rating |
| Thu., 3/19/09 | 12:20 PM | LSU/Butler | CBS | 3.1 |
| Thu., 3/19/09 | 2:30 PM | North Carolina/Radford | CBS | 3.7 |
| Thu., 3/19/09 | 7:00 PM | Clemson/Michigan | CBS | 6.1 |
| Thu., 3/19/09 | 9:30 PM | Duke/Binghamton | CBS | 5.7 |
| Fri., 3/20/09 | 12:15 PM | Oklahoma St/Tennessee | CBS | 3.1 |
| Fri., 3/20/09 | 2:45 PM | West Virginia/Dayton | CBS | 4.0 |
| Fri., 3/20/09 | 7:00 PM | Boston College/USC | CBS | 4.9 |
| Fri., 3/20/09 | 9:30 PM | Florida St./Wisconsin | CBS | 6.1 |
| Sat., 3/21/09 | 1:00 PM | Villanova/UCLA | CBS | 4.7 |
| Sat., 3/21/09 | 3:30 PM | Memphis/Maryland | CBS | 5.7 |
| Sat., 3/21/09 | 5:45 PM | North Carolina/LSU | CBS | 7.5 |
| Sat., 3/21/09 | 8:15 PM | Duke/Texas | CBS | 6.6 |
| Sun., 3/22/09 | 12:00 PM | Syracuse/Arizona St. | CBS | 4.2 |
| Sun., 3/22/09 | 2:15 PM | Pittsburgh/Oklahoma St. | CBS | 6.5 |
| Sun., 3/22/09 | 5:00 PM | Louisville/Siena | CBS | 8.1 |
