Back on CBS, and back to basics, the NCAA Tournament Selection Show delivered a five-year ratings high.
Sunday’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show scored a 3.7 rating and 6.2 million viewers on CBS, up 155% in ratings and 148% in viewership from last year on TBS (1.45, 2.50M) and up 23% and 27% respectively from 2017 on CBS (3.0, 4.88M).
Ratings and viewership were the highest for the event since 2014 (4.1, 6.76M).
This year marked just the fourth time this century that ratings have increased for the Selection Show, snapping a streak of five straight declines.
In addition to moving from TBS to CBS, this year’s Selection Show returned to the traditional hour-long length for the first time since 2015. The show lasted for two hours in 2016 and 2018, and for 90 minutes in 2017. It outperformed the previous 60-minute edition, which had a 3.5 and 5.49 million.
The Selection Show was the most-watched sports program of the weekend, finishing comfortably ahead of the final round of The Players Championship on NBC (2.75, 4.19M).
By comparison, the College Football Playoff Selection Show averaged 1.4 million viewers on ESPN in December, though it should be noted that was for the full four-hour telecast.
[Numbers from CBS]
