The finale of the college basketball season hit a five-year high in the ratings.
Monday’s Duke/Butler Men’s Basketball National Championship Game drew a 14.2/23 final rating and 23.9 million viewers on CBS, up 31% in ratings and 36% in viewership from North Carolina/Michigan St. last year (10.8/18, 17.6 mil), up 17% and 23%, respectively, from Kansas/Memphis in ’08 (12.1/20, 19.5 mil), and up 16% and 22%, respectively, from Florida/Ohio St. in ’07 (12.2/20, 19.6 mil).
Duke/Butler ranks as the highest rated National Championship Game since North Carolina/Illinois in ’05 (15.0/23), and the most-viewed since Duke/Arizona in ’01 (24.0 mil).
Overall, the game stands as the 8th-lowest rated and 9th-least viewed National Championship Game since ’81.
Monday’s game drew an 8.2/22 rating in the key adults 18-49 demographic, up 30% from last year (6.3), and up 12% from ’08 (7.3). By comparison, last year’s top NBA Finals game drew a 6.4 in the demo, while the top World Series game drew a 7.8.
For perspective, Duke/Butler drew a higher rating than every Major League Baseball game since ’04 (BOS/STL Game 4, 18.2) and every NBA game since ’02 (LAL/SAC Game 7, 14.4).
Excluding the NFL and the Olympics, the game ranks as the third-most viewed sports telecast of 2010, behind the BCS National Championship Game (30.8 mil) and the Rose Bowl (24.0 mil).
Ratings For The Final Four Since ’99
(TV By The Numbers)
