Ratings for the 2010 NCAA Tournament hit a high point with Sunday’s Baylor/Duke game.
Duke’s win over Baylor drew a 8.7/17 final rating and 13.8 million viewers on CBS Sunday, up 28% in ratings and 27% in viewership from North Carolina/Oklahoma last year (6.8/13, 10.8 mil).
Compared to Kansas/Davidson in ’08, Sunday’s game was even in ratings.
Baylor/Duke is tied with the aforementioned Kansas/Davidson game as the highest rated NCAA Tournament telecast — excluding the Final Four — since 2005.
For perspective, the game drew more viewers than the 2010 Daytona 500 (13.3 mil), Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals (13.0 mil) and the 2010 Orange Bowl (10.8 mil).
Sunday’s game was no doubt aided by the fact that NASCAR on FOX, the IRL on ABC and the PGA Tour on NBC each suffered rain delays. The absence of NASCAR had to be an especially big help, as last year’s comparable race drew a 4.6 rating and 7.4 million viewers.
