Aided by the season’s three biggest draws, Duke, Kentucky and Michigan, CBS topped the college basketball ratings charts last weekend.
Last Saturday’s Kentucky-Tennessee men’s college basketball game delivered a 1.7 rating and 2.76 million viewers on CBS, flat in ratings and up 3% in viewership from Michigan-Michigan State last year, a Big Ten Tournament semifinal (1.7, 2.67M), and up 55% and 64% respectively from 2017 (Notre Dame-Louisville: 1.1, 1.68M).
The Volunteers’ win delivered the tenth-largest audience of the season. Kentucky has played in four of the top ten, more than any other team except for Duke (five).
Speaking of Duke, CBS drew a 1.4 and 2.12 million for the Blue Devils’ win over Miami — flat in ratings and down 5% in viewership from last year (Purdue-Penn State: 1.4, 2.24M), but up 56% in both measures from 2017 (Arizona-Arizona State: 0.9, 1.35M).
CBS finished with the top three college basketball games of the weekend, with Sunday’s Michigan-Maryland game ranking third at a 1.2 and 1.84 million. Ratings and viewership for that game declined 40% and 42% respectively, with the caveat that last year’s game was the Big Ten Tournament final (Michigan-Purdue: 2.0, 3.18M).
In other weekend action, ESPN topped out at a 1.1 (+57%) and 1.69 million (+47%) for North Carolina-Clemson Saturday evening, and FOX at a 0.8 (+123%) and 1.12 million (+131%) for Michigan State-Indiana Saturday afternoon.
Shifting to the workweek, Tuesday’s Wake Forest-Duke game had 1.38 million viewers on ESPN — up 211% from the same window last year, Wright State-Cleveland State in the Horizon League final (443K). Duke’s narrow win fell just short of the competing Rockets-Raptors NBA game on TNT (1.378M to 1.376M).
The Kentucky-Mississippi nightcap had 1.28 million, up 45% from last year’s comparable window, Gonzaga-St. Mary’s in the WCC Tournament final (877K).
