Viewership was mixed for the major conference tournament title games, but a couple of mid-majors hit highs and the Selection Show inched up.
Sunday’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament selection show averaged 5.09 million viewers on CBS, up 3% from last year (4.95M) and easily the most-watched sports telecast of the weekend. Though up year-over-year, viewership was still the third-lowest for the event in its CBS history, topping only last year and 2017 (4.88M).
The Selection Show was an exception on a mostly down weekend of conference tournament title games. The Big Ten Tournament final (Purdue-Penn State) led-in with a 1.7 rating and 3.18 million viewers on CBS, down 14% in ratings and 11% in viewership from last year (Iowa-Purdue: 2.0, 3.59M) and the smallest audience for the Big Ten final in at least 15 years.
Purdue’s win was nonetheless the most-watched college basketball game of the season, topping the previous high of 2.99 million for DePaul-Creighton on FOX Christmas Day.
The Big Ten Tournament took the top two spots on Selection weekend and three of the top four. Saturday’s Penn State-Indiana semifinal ranked second at a 1.6 and 2.81 million — down 10% in ratings and 9% in viewership from last year (Purdue-Michigan State: 1.7, 3.09M). The Purdue-Ohio State lead-in took fourth-place with a 1.4 and 2.54 million, down 12% and 9% respectively from last year (Iowa-Indiana: 1.7, 3.09M).
Outside of the Big Ten, the ACC Tournament took top honors with a 1.4 and 2.70 million for Duke-Virginia on ESPN Saturday night — down 14% in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (Duke-Virginia Tech: 1.7, 3.06M) and the second-smallest audience for the event in a decade.
Duke’s win edged the competing Bucks-Warriors NBA game on ABC in viewership (2.70 to 2.65M) and the key young adult demographics of 18-49 (0.74 to 0.59), 18-34 (0.50 to 0.40) and 25-54 (0.90 to 0.74), though the NBA did have a higher household rating (1.5 to 1.4). It was the day’s top program in 18-34 and trailed only NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in 18-49 and 25-54.
The Texas-Kansas Big 12 Tournament final led-in with a 1.3 and 2.49 million, essentially even with last year (Kansas-Texas Tech: 1.35, 2.48M). The UCLA-Arizona Pac-12 Tournament final led-out with a 0.9 and 1.57 million, up 26% and 20% respectively from last year (0.7, 1.30M) to rank as the highest for the game in four years (2019 Oregon-Washington: 1.2, 1.99M).
Rounding out the power five action, the Alabama-Texas A&M SEC Tournament final drew a 1.1 and 1.95 million, up 8% in ratings and 9% in viewership from last year’s final (Texas A&M-Tennessee: 1.0, 1.79M) and the highest since 2019 (Auburn-Tennessee: 1.45, 2.24M). (Last year’s top SEC Tournament game was a Tennessee-Kentucky semifinal that had a 1.4 and 2.51 million.)
The AAC Tournament final, featuring #1 Houston against Memphis, led the non-power five slate with a 1.0 and 1.68 million on ESPN Sunday — up 39% and 40% respectively and the highest for the game since 2018, when it aired on CBS leading into the Selection Show (2.1M).
The San Diego State-Utah State Mountain West Tournament final ranked not far behind at a with a 1.0 and 1.66 million on CBS Saturday evening, up 8% from last year and the highest for the game in nine years (2014 New Mexico-San Diego State: 1.9M).
Other notable result include the Marquette-Xavier Big East Tournament final pulling a 0.53 and 980,000 on FOX — down 12% and 20% respectively from last year (Villanova-Creighton: 0.6, 1.22M) and the second-lowest for the game since it last aired on FS1 in 2015 (Villanova-Xavier: 414K).
The VCU-Dayton Atlantic-10 Tournament final drew a 0.8 and 1.39 million on CBS Sunday, down a tick in ratings but up 5% in viewership from last year and the most-watched edition of the game since 2017 (Rhode Island-VCU: 1.6M). As with all multi-year highs, keep in mind that out-of-home viewing was not included in Nielsen’s final nationals prior to three years ago.
Finally, the Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s WCC Tournament final drew a 0.51 and 869,000 on ESPN last Tuesday — down 23% in ratings and 19% in viewership from last year to rank as the lowest for the game since at least 2011.
(Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 3.14, network PR)
