With neither matchup particularly attractive on paper, Saturday’s Elite Eight games hit lows in the metered markets.
Gonzaga-Xavier earned a 4.0 overnight rating in Saturday’s NCAA Tournament Elite Eight on TBS, down 22% from Oklahoma-Oregon on CBS last year (5.1), down 30% from Wisconsin-Arizona on TBS in 2015 (5.7) and the lowest overnight for any Elite Eight game since at least 1998.
The previous low was a 4.6 for Florida-Dayton in 2014.
Oregon-Kansas followed that up with a 5.8 in the late window, down 22% from Villanova-Kansas on CBS last year (7.4) and down 36% from Kentucky-Notre Dame on TBS in 2015, the last win in the Wildcats’ pursuit of an undefeated season (9.0). The 5.8 is the lowest for the late Saturday Elite Eight game since at least ’98.
Neither matchup was made-for-TV, with the four participating markets adding up to 1.7 million television homes — compared to 4.8 million for last year’s TBS games, North Carolina-Notre Dame and Syracuse-Virginia. Those games delivered overnights of 6.6 and 4.9, respectively, though airing on a Sunday night was likely as big a factor as market size. Beyond market size, the relatively low profiles of victorious Gonzaga and Oregon, one a mid-major and the other better known for football, likely hurt the numbers.
With Sunday’s gains cancelling out Saturday’s declines, this year’s Elite Eight averaged a 6.5 overnight across CBS and TBS — up 8% from last year (6.0) though down 19% from 2015 (8.0). The NCAA Tournament has averaged a 6.6 overnight entering the Final Four, up 8% from last year (6.1) but down 8% from 2015 (7.2). The 6.6 is the fourth-highest average through the Elite Eight since 1993.
(Numbers via Sports Business Daily)
