The Duke/North Carolina rivalry again attracted the largest college basketball audience of the season.
Saturday’s Duke/North Carolina college basketball game drew a 2.6 final rating and 4.2 million viewers on ESPN, up 24% in ratings and 21% in viewership from the rivals’ second meeting last year (2.1, 3.5M) and up 53% and 52%, respectively, from the second meeting in 2013 (1.7, 2.8M).
The Blue Devils’ win ranks as the most-watched college basketball game of the season on any network, topping the previous high of 4.1 million for the teams’ first meeting in February. It also tied the season’s highest rating, matching the February game.
Duke has now played in three of the four most-watched games this season, with their January game against Virginia ranking fourth (3.5M).
Saturday’s game was the most-watched between Duke and North Carolina in three years, ranking slightly behind a March 2012 meeting (4.25M to 4.24M). Overall, the teams’ two meetings this season rank as the fourth and fifth most-watched editions of the rivalry on ESPN, trailing only the March 2012, March 2006 (4.7M) and March 2008 (5.6M) games.
(Sat. numbers from ESPN)
