ESPN scored big increases for recent college basketball action. In other news, CBS posted mixed results for its college hoops coverage last weekend, and recent NBA action put up weak numbers on ESPN and TNT.
Big Gains For Recent College Hoops on ESPN
- Kansas’ comeback over West Virginia had a 1.1 final rating and 1.8 million viewers on ESPN’s Big Monday this week, up 57% in ratings and 64% in viewership from Oklahoma State/Kansas last year (0.7, 1.1M) and up a tick and 22% respectively from Kansas/West Virginia in 2015 (1.0, 1.5M). Louisville/Syracuse posted even bigger gains earlier in the night, up 58% in ratings (from 0.60 to 0.95) and 56% in viewership (from 940K to 1.5M). On Super Tuesday, Tennessee/Kentucky scored 1.1 million (+22%) and Ohio State/Michigan State 919,000 (+58%). Going back to the weekend, unbeaten Gonzaga against St. Mary’s had a 0.8 (+33%) and 1.3 million (+32%) opposite strong NBA competition Saturday night.
Mixed Numbers For CBB on CBS
- Sunday’s Michigan/Indiana college basketball game scored a 1.4 final rating and 2.1 million viewers on CBS, flat in ratings but down 6% in viewership from Indiana/Michigan State last year (1.4, 2.2M) and up 17% and 9% respectively from Illinois/Wisconsin in 2015 (1.2, 1.9M). Kentucky/Alabama drew a 1.0 and 1.6 million the previous day, up 43% in ratings and 57% in viewership from Texas A&M/LSU last year (0.7, 999K) and up a tick and 28% respectively from Baylor/Kansas in ’15 (0.9, 1.2M).
Sleepy Numbers For Recent NBA
- Pacers/Wizards and Bulls/Suns each scored a 0.7 final rating and 1.2 million viewers on ESPN’s NBA Friday doubleheader last week. There were no comparable windows last year due to All-Star weekend. On TNT Monday, Thunder/Wizards had a 0.7 and 1.1 million and Hawks/Blazers a 0.6 and 876,000. The latter was the 13th NBA game this season with fewer than one million viewers (not counting NBA TV), topping last year’s full-season total of 12. Keep in mind there have been 16 more nationally televised games so far this season compared to last year.
