Fewer viewers watched the Big Ten title game, but the telecast earned one of the top audiences of the season.
Last Saturday’s Wisconsin/Michigan State Big Ten Tournament championship game drew a 2.6 final rating and 4.0 million viewers on CBS, down a tick in ratings and 12% in viewership from Michigan State/Michigan last year (2.7, 4.5M), but the third-largest audience of the season on any network.
The only games to earn a larger audience were North Carolina/Duke on ESPN in February (4.1M) and the teams’ rematch on the same network in March (4.2M).
The Badgers’ win ranks as the third-highest rated Big Ten title game since at least 2008 (final ratings for the 2008 game were not available), trailing only last year and Ohio State/Wisconsin in 2013 (3.0).
Keep in mind the game faced weaker competition than last year, trouncing the American Athletic Conference title game on ESPN (1.6M). Last year’s game faced the SEC championship, which drew 3.0 million. Compared to other sports, the telecast topped the Rockets/Clippers NBA game on ABC (1.8, 2.7M) and the final round of the PGA Tampa Bay Championship on NBC (2.1, 3.1M), but finished well behind NASCAR Sprint Cup racing on FOX (4.1, 7.0M).
On Saturday, the Michigan State /Maryland semifinal drew a 1.8 and 2.8 million — down a tick in ratings and 10% in viewership from Wisconsin/Michigan State last year (1.9, 3.2M). Wisconsin/Purdue drew a 1.4 and 2.1 million earlier in the day, down 13% and 14%, respectively, from last year’s Michigan/Ohio State game (1.6, 2.4M).
(Sun. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
