Teams from the major conferences drove the NCAA Tournament “First Four” to record numbers on TruTV.
The “First Four” averaged approximately 1.5 million viewers on TruTV (four telecasts), the largest audience ever for the round (dates back to 2011). The previous high was 1.1 million.
Wednesday’s Iowa/Tennessee game topped the charts with a 1.4 U.S. rating and 2.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen fast-nationals — up 75% in ratings and 80% in viewership from LaSalle/Boise State last year (0.8, 1.2M), and the most-viewed “First Four” telecast ever.
The previous night, N.C. State/Xavier earned a 1.1 and 1.6 million — up 38% and 39%, respectively, from St. Mary’s/Middle Tennessee last year (0.8, 1.2M), and the second-most viewed “First Four” telecast ever.
The other two “First Four” games attracted much smaller numbers. Albany/Mt. St. Mary’s had 1.1 million viewers Tuesday night (+2% over last year), and Wednesday’s Cal Poly/Texas Southern game brought up the rear with just 986,000 (-3%).
Most-Viewed “First Four” Games
(This year’s numbers from Turner Sports, The Futon Critic [1], [2])
