A record night for the NCAA Women’s Final Four dominated television on Friday, April 5.
The NCAA women’s basketball tournament national semifinals averaged a 5.5 rating and 11.0 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN2, including a 7.1 and 14.4 million for Iowa-UConn — at the time, the largest women’s basketball audience ever recorded by Nielsen. The South Carolina-NC State lead-in averaged a 3.7 and 7.17 million, the third-largest audience for a national semifinal.
Ratings and viewership more-than-doubled last year’s Women’s Final Four, which was itself a record with a 2.4 and 4.58 million.
The two games dominated the rest of television. With a 3.3 rating in adults 18-49, Iowa-UConn outdrew all of the “Big Four” primetime broadcast network shows combined Friday night (2.8).
Additional details on the Women’s Final Four ratings can be seen in the preceding link.
No other sporting event Friday cracked even the 500,000 viewer mark. A NASCAR Truck Series race from Martinsville drew a 0.27 and 494,000 on FS1 and the second round of the PGA Tour Texas Open scored a 0.21 and 353,000 on Golf Channel. NBA TV drew a 0.17 and 285,000 for Timberwolves-Suns, preceded by Kings-Celtics at a 0.12 and 206,000. MLB Network a 0.18 and 283,000 for primetime regional action and a 0.11 and 203,000 for an afternoon window.
Qualifying for the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix drew a 0.09 and 162,000 on ESPN2.
