Ratings for the NCAA Tournament National Semifinals were up slightly from last year, though better numbers could have been expected considering the quality of the matchups.
Coverage of Saturday’s ‘Final Four’ NCAA Tournament games averaged a 9.0 fast-national rating on CBS, up a tick from last year (8.9), and the highest average since 2005 (10.5).
CBS did not disclose viewership in a Sunday press release.
In particular, the seemingly titanic Kentucky/Louisville matchup earned an 8.4 fast-national rating — up only 1% from last year’s battle of mid-majors (BUTLER/VCU: 8.3), and down 2% from 2010 (BUTLER/MSU: 8.6).
Later in the night, Kansas/Ohio State drew a much more impressive 9.6 rating, up 1% from last year (CONN/UK: 9.5), and up 4% from 2010 (DUKE/WVU: 9.2).
(Sunday’s numbers from CBS Sports)
