Primetime on cable proved no match for the afternoon on broadcast.
North Carolina/Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight earned a 6.6 overnight rating on TBS Sunday night, down a third from Duke/Gonzaga last year (9.9) and down 27% from Kentucky/Michigan in 2014 (9.0), both of which aired on CBS in the late afternoon. Compared to Louisville/Duke in 2013, the last time the Elite Eight took place on Easter Sunday, overnights fell 30% from a 9.4.
The 6.6 overnight is the lowest for the late Sunday Elite Eight window since at least 1998, falling below the previous mark of 7.3 for Texas/Michigan State in 2003. The window topped a 9.0 rating in five of the previous six years.
Though low overall, the 6.6 is also the fourth-highest ever for college basketball on a single cable network — behind Kentucky/Notre Dame in last year’s Elite Eight (9.0) and the TBS broadcasts of last year’s Final Four.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
