The biggest rivalry in college basketball will get primetime exposure on network television next year.
CBS will air Duke/North Carolina air at 8 PM ET on Saturday, March 5, the first time the rivals have played in primetime on broadcast television. In previous years when CBS aired Duke/North Carolina, the teams played on a Sunday afternoon.
This is the latest regular season sporting event to get primetime exposure on broadcast. FOX aired two Saturday night Major League Baseball telecasts this season.
Many other sporting events have aired on Saturday nights on broadcast — including NASCAR races on FOX/ABC, college football and select NBA Playoff games on ABC, mixed martial arts telecasts on CBS, and even the third round of golf’s U.S. Open on NBC, which began at 5 PM ET and ended after 11 PM.
That does not even include the crown jewel events — such as World Series games and the Final Four — that have aired on Saturday nights for decades.
Of course, Saturday night is the lowest rated night of the week, and the broadcast networks very rarely schedule original programming.
The last time Duke/North Carolina aired on CBS (2009), the game drew a 2.9 final rating and 4.6 million viewers on a Sunday afternoon.
