With the usual draws sitting at home, viewership the men’s Elite Eight took an expected hit.
Sunday’s Miami-Texas NCAA men’s basketball tournament regional final averaged a 6.1 rating and 11.30 million viewers on CBS, down 16% in ratings and 17% in viewership from North Carolina-Saint Peter’s last year (7.2, 13.58M) and the lowest rated and least-watched Elite Eight game in the late Sunday window since 2016 — when the games aired on TBS in primetime (North Carolina-Notre Dame: 10.11M).
Excluding 2016, it was the least-watched in that window since North Carolina-Oklahoma in 2009 (10.84M).
Despite the low, the Hurricanes’ win ranks as the most-watched game of the tournament thus far — no real surprise given that the late Sunday Elite Eight window is typically among the most-watched basketball games in a given year.
Viewership fell only slightly below one of last year’s Final Four games (Kansas-Villanova: 11.70M) and the first three games of last year’s NBA Finals (Warriors-Celtics: 11.52, 11.90 and 11.91M).
Earlier in the day, San Diego State-Creighton averaged a 4.7 and 8.34 million — down 12% in both measures from Kansas-Miami last year (5.3, 9.51M) and the least-watched early Sunday Elite Eight game since 2016 on TBS (Syracuse-Virginia: 7.59M). Excluding 2016, it was the least-watched since 2012 (Kentucky-Baylor: 8.24M).
Shifting to the Saturday games, TBS averaged a 4.1 and 7.99 million for UConn’s rout of Gonzaga — down 21% in ratings and 23% in viewership from Duke-Arkansas last year (5.2, 10.34M) and the least-watched Elite Eight game in the late Saturday window since at least 2007.
Florida Atlantic’s upset of Kansas State opened the doubleheader with a 3.6 and 7.04 million — flat in ratings and down just 1% in viewership from Villanova-Houston last year (3.6, 7.10M). It was the least-watched in the early Saturday window since 2017 (Gonzaga-Xavier: 6.05M).
Viewership declined for all eight telecast windows in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, no doubt a product of an unconventional tournament field that included few traditional draws. With the Final Four featuring three newcomers — San Diego State, FAU and Miami — it seems unlikely that the downward trend will reverse next weekend.
(Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 3.28)
