The penultimate game for Zion Williamson and the Duke Blue Devils hit a five-year ratings high.
Friday’s Duke-Virginia Tech NCAA Tournament regional semifinal delivered a 6.1 rating and 10.07 million viewers on CBS, up 30% in ratings and 29% in viewership from Duke-Syracuse in the same window last year (4.7, 7.80M) and up 3% and 1% respectively from 2017 (Kentucky-UCLA: 5.9, 10.00M).
The Blue Devils’ narrow win ranks as the highest rated Sweet Sixteen game since Kentucky-Ohio State in 2011 (6.7) and the most-watched since Kentucky-Louisville in 2014 (10.09M).
It also delivered the second-highest rating and viewership of this year’s NCAA Tournament, behind Duke-UCF in the second round (7.8, 12.88M). That does not include the weekend’s Elite Eight games, final figures for which were not immediately available.
Airing in the same window on TBS, Kentucky-Houston had a 2.1 and 3.41 million — up 28% in ratings and 27% in viewership from last year (Texas Tech-Purdue: 1.6, 2.70M), but down 15% and 20% respectively from 2017 (Florida-Wisconsin: 2.4, 4.25M).
The two games combined for 13.49 million viewers, up 29% from last year (10.49M) but down 5% from 2017 (14.24M).
In Friday’s early window, Michigan State-LSU had a 3.6 and 5.79 million on CBS — up 6% in ratings and viewership from last year (Kansas-Clemson: 3.4, 5.46M) but down 10% in both measures from 2017 (UNC-Butler: 4.0, 6.42M).
Auburn-North Carolina drew a 3.2 (+17%) and 5.62 million (+18%) on TBS, marking the highest rated and most-watched Sweet Sixteen game on cable since North Carolina-Wisconsin in 2015 (4.2, 6.89M).
[Numbers from Nielsen via Programming Insider 4.1]
