Ratings and viewership for the NCAA Tournament National Semifinals since 1997 and 2002, respectively.
Ratings improved for both of last year’s National Semifinals, as Butler/Michigan State and Duke/West Virginia both hit multi-year highs for their respective timeslots.
That said, last year marked the fifth straight season that neither National Semifinal drew a double-digit rating. In seven out of eight years from 1997 to 2005, at least one of the two games hit double-digits.
This is the first time since 2006 that an 11 seed has made the Final Four. That year, George Mason’s loss to Florida drew a 9.1 rating and 14.492 million viewers. While that was down from the previous year’s game, George Mason/Florida marks the only early National Semifinal since ’97 to outdraw the late game.
Ratings for Final Four Saturday Since 1997, Viewership Since 2002
Ratings in chart; ratings and viewership in table.
| Year | Date | Game | Net | Rating | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2010
|
Sat., 4/3/10 | BUT 52, MSU 50 | CBS |
8.6
|
14,460
|
| DUKE 78, WVU 57 | CBS |
9.2
|
15,823
|
||
|
2009
|
Sat., 4/4/09 | MSU 82, CONN 73 | CBS |
7.8
|
12,583
|
| UNC 83, VILL 69 | CBS |
8.5
|
14,454
|
||
|
2008
|
Sat., 4/5/08 | MEM 78, UCLA 63 | CBS |
7.2
|
11,770
|
| KU 84, UNC 66 | CBS |
8.8
|
14,435
|
||
|
2007
|
Sat., 3/31/07 | OSU 67, GTWN 60 | CBS |
8.4
|
13,229
|
| UF 76, UCLA 66 | CBS |
8.9
|
14,371
|
||
|
2006
|
Sat., 4/1/06 | UF 73, GMU 58 | CBS |
9.1
|
14,492
|
| UCLA 59, LSU 45 | CBS |
8.2
|
13,145
|
||
|
2005
|
Sat., 4/2/05 | ILL 72, LOU 57 | CBS |
10.0
|
15,657
|
| UNC 87, MSU 71 | CBS |
10.9
|
17,548
|
||
|
2004
|
Sat., 4/3/04 | GT 67, OKST 65 | CBS |
8.3
|
12,944
|
| CONN 79, DUKE 78 | CBS |
10.5
|
16,736
|
||
|
2003
|
Sat., 4/5/03 | KU 94, MARQ 61 | CBS |
6.3
|
9,897
|
| SYR 95, TEX 84 | CBS |
7.9
|
12,571
|
||
|
2002
|
Sat., 3/30/02 | IND 73, OU 64 | CBS |
9.4
|
14,422
|
| UMD 97, KU 88 | CBS |
11.3
|
18,466
|
||
|
2001
|
Sat., 3/31/01 | ARIZ 80, MSU 61 | CBS |
9.1
|
—
|
| DUKE 95, UMD 84 | CBS |
11.6
|
18,323
|
||
|
2000
|
Sat., 4/2/00 | MSU 53, WISC 41 | CBS |
8.8
|
—
|
| UF 71, UNC 59 | CBS |
10.2
|
—
|
||
|
1999
|
Sat., 3/27/99 | CONN 64, OSU 58 | CBS |
9.2
|
—
|
| DUKE 68, MSU 62 | CBS |
10.9
|
—
|
||
|
1998
|
Sat., 3/28/98 | UK 86, STAN 85 | CBS |
10.8
|
—
|
| UTAH 65, UNC 59 | CBS |
12.7
|
—
|
||
|
1997
|
Sat., 3/29/97 | ARIZ 66, UNC 58 | CBS |
9.9
|
—
|
| UK 78, MINN 69 | CBS |
12.5
|
—
|
