One of the great endings in basketball history could not overcome the downward trend for this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Villanova/North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament National Championship Game earned a 12.0 overnight rating on TBS, TNT and TruTV Monday night, down 30% from Duke/Wisconsin last year (17.1) and down 7% from Connecticut/Kentucky in 2014 (12.9), which aired on CBS.
The 12.0 is the second-highest ever for college basketball on cable television, behind Wisconsin/Kentucky in last year’s national semifinals (13.3). It trails only that game as cable’s highest rated non-football program ever in the metered markets.
Though high for cable, the 12.0 is also the lowest for the national championship since North Carolina’s last appearance — against Michigan State in 2009 (11.9). Overall, it ranks as the fourth-lowest overnight ever for the title game.
For posterity, Saturday’s Villanova/Oklahoma semifinal had a 7.1 overnight (-26%) and North Carolina/Syracuse followed with an 8.1 (-39%).
(Mon. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
