Big East contenders have lifted recent college basketball viewership on FOX and Fox Sports 1. In other news, ESPN posted mixed numbers for primetime college hoops doubleheaders and CBS scored upticks for its coverage.
Villanova, Xavier, Boost FOX and Fox Sports 1
- Butler/Villanova college basketball drew a 0.5 final rating and 722,000 viewers on FOX last Saturday, up a tick in ratings and 59% in viewership from Villanova/Marquette last year (0.4, 453K). Xavier/Georgetown had a 0.3 and 503,000 earlier in the day, flat and up 13%, respectively, from last year’s Seton Hall/St. John’s game (0.3, 444K). In other action, Fox Sports 1 scored 538,000 viewers for Villanova/Xavier on Wednesday — up 541% from Marquette/Butler last year (84K), up 485% from Butler/Villanova in ’14 (485K), and a regular season Big East record on the network.
Kentucky/TAMU Tops Weekend Slate, But Down on ESPN
- ESPN scored a 1.2 final rating and 2.0 million viewers for Kentucky/Texas A&M last Saturday, down a tick in ratings and 3% in viewership from Auburn/Kentucky last year (1.3, 2.1M) and down 50% and 52%, respectively, from Syracuse/Duke in 2014 (2.4, 4.2M). The Purdue/Indiana nightcap had a 0.9 (+13%) and 1.4 million (+26%). Monday, Iowa State/West Virginia (0.8, 1.3M) and Virginia/Miami (0.7, 1.1M) were flat in ratings and up 1% and 9%, respectively, in viewership. Tuesday, Michigan State/Ohio State (0.8, 1.2M) jumped 60% in ratings and 52% in viewership, while Alabama/Kentucky sank 27% in the latter (to 1.1M).
Upticks For College Hoops on CBS Last Weekend
- Last Saturday’s Michigan/Maryland game scored a 1.2 final rating and 1.8 million viewers on CBS Sunday afternoon, flat in ratings and up 1% in viewership from Ohio State/Michigan last year and down 14% and 17%, respectively, from Michigan State/Michigan in 2014 (1.4, 2.2M). The previous day, Miami/North Carolina drew a 0.8 and 1.2 million — up a third in ratings and 35% in viewership from Florida/LSU last year (0.6, 878K) but down 27% and 29%, respectively, from regional action in ’14 (1.1, 1.7M).
(Numbers via Sports Business Daily, Sports TV Ratings, Twitter, Programming Insider [1], [2], [3])
