Even without Kentucky, the final game of the NCAA Tournament was a big draw for CBS.
The Duke/Wisconsin NCAA Tournament National Championship Game earned a 17.1 overnight rating on CBS Monday night, up 33% from Connecticut/Kentucky last year (12.9), up 20% from Louisville/Michigan in 2013 (14.3), and the highest for any college basketball game since the Arizona/Kentucky final in 1997 (18.0).
The overnight peaked at a 20.1 from 11-11:30 PM ET.
Duke has now played in three of the five highest rated title games in the metered markets since 1997 — Monday’s game, their 2010 win against Butler (16.0) and their 1999 loss to Connecticut (16.9). Their 2001 win over Arizona ranks seventh (14.7).
The Blue Devils’ win drew the highest overnight for a non-football sporting event on a single network since the Opening Ceremony of last year’s Olympics (18.5). It topped every NBA game since Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals (17.7) and every baseball game since Game 4 of the 2004 World Series (19.7).
It was not able to match the Ohio State/Oregon College Football National Championship Game in January, which drew an 18.9 overnight on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNEWS (18.5 on ESPN alone).
Milwaukee was the top market for Monday’s game with a 42.2 rating. Raleigh-Durham ranked second with a 36.2, up 15% from a 31.6 for Duke/Butler in 2010. Louisville (33.5), Columbus, OH (29.9) and Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem (29.5) rounded out the top five.
The full NCAA Tournament averaged a combined 7.8 overnight rating on CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV — up 13% from last year and the event’s highest average in the metered markets since 1993.
(Mon. numbers from CBS/Turner Sports)
