There may be little drama in UConn’s march to a fourth straight championship, but overnight ratings still increased for their penultimate win.
UConn/Oregon State in the Women’s NCAA Tournament Final Four had a 1.7 overnight rating on ESPN Sunday evening, up 31% from Notre Dame/South Carolina last year (1.3) and up 42% from Notre Dame/Maryland in 2014 (1.2). Compared to the Huskies’ Final Four game last year, against Maryland in the late window, overnights increased a tick from 1.6.
The 1.7 is the highest for a women’s national semifinal since 2013, when UConn/Notre Dame had a 1.9. Of note, it matched the Thunder/Rockets NBA game on ABC earlier in the day.
Later in the night, Syracuse/Washington had a 1.0 overnight on ESPN2 — down 38% from last year’s aforementioned UConn/Maryland game and UConn/Stanford in 2014 (1.6 both years). The 1.0 is the lowest for a Women’s Final Four game since at least 2008.
Syracuse’s win, also a blowout, aired on ESPN2 to accommodate MLB Opening Night on ESPN. It marked the first time a Women’s Final Four game has aired on the lesser network.
Hartford was the top market for UConn/Oregon State (19.2), with Portland second (7.0) and Seattle third (4.4). Seattle was the top market for Syracuse/Washington (8.7), followed by Hartford (5.8) and Knoxville, TN (2.2).
(Sun. overnights from ESPN Media Zone)
