Rounding out a successful Elite Eight weekend for CBS/Turner Sports, Wisconsin/Arizona hit a four-year high in ratings and viewership.
Last Saturday’s Wisconsin/Arizona NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game drew a 5.2 final rating and 8.8 million viewers on TBS, up 21% in ratings and 22% in viewership from Dayton/Florida last year (4.3, 7.2M) and up 24% and 22%, respectively, from Syracuse/Marquette on CBS in 2013 (4.2, 7.2M).
The Badgers’ win ranks as the highest rated and most-watched early Saturday Elite Eight window since Butler/Florida in 2011 (5.8, 9.2M). All four Elite Eight games hit multi-year highs, with Kentucky/Notre Dame and Duke/Gonzaga tied as the highest rated in their respective windows since 2005 and Michigan State/Louisville matching the highest rating in its window since 1999.
It also earned the third-largest audience ever for a college basketball game on a single cable network, trailing only Kentucky/Notre Dame later in the night (8.4, 14.7M) and Wisconsin/Arizona last year (5.8, 10.0M).
Elite Eight TV Ratings Since Current TV Deal Began
| 2015 ELITE EIGHT | PREVIOUS YEARS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | Game | Rtg./ Vwrs. | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
| Early Sat | Wisconsin/Arizona | 5.2 8.80M | 4.3 7.20M | 4.6 7.21M | 4.3 6.68M | 5.8 9.17M |
| Late Sat | Kentucky/Notre Dame | 8.4 14.75M | 5.8 9.97M | 6.8 11.29M | 6.7 10.95M | 6.6 10.82M |
| Early Sun | Mich. St/Louisville | 6.7 10.56M | 6.1 9.80M | 5.7 9.36M | 5.0 8.24M | 6.5 10.43M |
| Late Sun | Duke/Gonzaga | 8.9 14.75M | 8.9 14.64M | 8.8 15.65M | 7.1 11.68M | 8.9 15.08M |
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
