Selection Sunday was the talk of the sports weekend, but fewer eyeballs tuned into college hoops on the final day before the brackets were set.
CBS drew a 4.4 overnight for the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, down 6% from last year, and the lowest overnight for the Selection Show in at least thirteen years. Ratings have fallen for the Selection Show each of the past three years.
The Selection Show did finish as the second highest rated event of the weekend, behind NASCAR and ahead of Tiger Woods‘ victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The Selection Show was not the only college basketball action to sink on CBS. Every game CBS aired over the weekend saw declining ratings. The Conference USA Championship Game between Memphis and Tulsa saw a 23% drop from last year, while the Big Ten Semifinals saw declines of 32% and 20%, respectively.
The Big Ten Championship Game on Sunday saw the biggest drop of the weekend, as the 1.5 overnight for Wisconsin’s win over Illinois marked a 52% drop from Ohio State/Wisconsin last year.
One factor in the huge drop for the Big Ten Championship Game is that the SEC title game was moved from 1 PM on CBS to 3:30 PM on ESPN2, possibly cannibalizing viewership. The studio show that aired on CBS in place of the SEC game drew a 1.0 overnight. Also, the lack of Greg Oden, who played in the game last year, also played a major role.
Overnights for NCAA Tournament Selection Show.
(since 1995)
2008: 4.4 (3/16/08, 6 PM CBS)
2007: 4.7 (3/11/07, 6 PM CBS)
2006: 4.7 (3/12/06, 6 PM CBS)
2005: 5.7 (3/13/05, 6 PM CBS)
2004: 5.0 (3/14/04, 6 PM CBS)
2003: 5.0 (3/16/03, 6 PM CBS)
2002: 5.8 (3/10/02, 6 PM CBS)
2001: 5.5 (3/11/01, 6 PM CBS)
2000: 5.7 (3/12/00, 6:30 PM CBS)
1999: 5.8 (3/7/99, 6:30 PM CBS)
1998: 6.5 (3/8/98, 6:30 PM CBS)
1997: 5.7 (3/9/97, 6:30 PM CBS)
1996: 5.7 (3/10/96, 6:30 PM CBS)
1995: 4.8 (3/12/95, 6 PM CBS)
