A clash of college basketball titans delivered the highest Elite Eight overnight rating in 13 years.
Sunday’s Kansas-Duke NCAA Tournament regional final earned a 10.1 overnight rating on CBS, up 6% from last year (UNC-Kentucky: 9.5) and up 53% from 2016 on TBS (UNC-Notre Dame: 6.6).
The 10.1 is the highest for any Elite Eight game since 2005 (UK-MSU: 10.8), and the second-highest in at least 20 years. The previous high was a 9.9 for Duke-Gonzaga in 2015 and Duke-Baylor in 2010.
The Jayhawks’ overtime win peaked at a whopping 16.0 from 7:15-7:30 PM ET, up 18% from last year’s peak of 13.6 in the same time period. The strong finish was due in part to the overtime and to a non-sports audience tuning in for 60 Minutes, which had a 16.3 overnight.
Earlier in the day, Villanova-Texas Tech had a 6.2 — down 3% from last year (South Carolina-UF: 6.4) but up 27% from 2016 on TBS (Syracuse-UVA: 4.9). The Wildcats’ uneventful win peaked with a 7.6 from 4:15-4:45 PM ET.
The 6.2 is tied as the sixth-highest for the early Sunday Elite Eight window in the past decade, around the middle-of-the-pack.
Overnights were not immediately available for Saturday’s games on TBS.
[Sun. numbers from CBS]
