Friday (3/22) sports ratings: NCAA men, women and more

James Madison’s upset of Wisconsin topped the sports viewership charts for Friday, March 22.

Friday’s James Madison-Wisconsin NCAA men’s basketball tournament opening round game averaged a 2.7 rating and 5.21 million viewers on CBS, up 62% in ratings and 74% in viewership from Kansas State-Montana State last year (1.7, 2.99M) and the most-watched sporting event of the day. The men’s tournament delivered the top 13, and that will surely rise to 15 when the results arrive for the CBS daytime games.

As was the case with Oakland’s upset of Kentucky the night before, the Dukes’ upset win drew viewers away from the concurrent games on cable. Viewership declined 18 percent on both TBS (Utah State-TCU: 0.7, 1.45M) and TNT (Grand Canyon-Saint Mary’s: 0.7, 1.17M) and a whopping 55 percent on truTV (Houston-Longwood: 0.56, 1.06M).

The full telecast window combined for a 4.7 and 8.88 million, still up 1% and 4% respectively from last year (1.2, 2.38M).

The four networks combined for a larger audience earlier in the night as the early primetime window grossed a 5.5 and 11.07 million — down 6% and 2% respectively from last year (5.9, 11.28M). Duke-Vermont led the way with a 2.4 (+11%) and 4.52 million (+16%) on CBS, followed by Purdue-Grambling on TBS (1.3, 2.91M), Texas A&M-Nebraska on TNT (1.4, 2.75M) and Alabama-Charleston on truTV (0.48, 886K). Last year’s window was boosted by Purdue’s loss to 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, which had a stronger-than-usual 2.2 and 4.37 million on TNT.

Figures for the daytime games on CBS were not immediately available. Yale’s upset of Auburn topped the afternoon slate on cable with a 1.4 and 2.63 million on TNT, up 42% and 45% respectively from Creighton-NC State a year ago (1.0, 1.82M). Colorado’s thrilling win over Florida drew a 1.2 and 2.29 million in the concurrent window on TBS — flat in ratings and up 6% in viewership from UConn-Iona last year (1.2, 2.17M).

Rounding out the men’s action, Marquette-Western Kentucky drew a 0.7 (+20%) and 1.19 million (+27%) on TBS and San Diego State-UAB a 0.54 (+29%) and 966,000 (+31%) on TNT. Bringing up the rear, truTV drew a 0.48 (-39%) and 857,000 (-37%) for Clemson-New Mexico and a mere 0.29 (-65%) and 500,000 (-65%) for Baylor-Colgate.

Shifting to the women’s tournament, LSU-Rice topped the opening day slate with a 0.46 and 762,000 on ESPN — trailing only UConn-Mercer on ABC in 2022 (767K) as the most-watched opening round game since at least 2010. Ohio State-Maryland ranked second for the day with a 0.35 and 642,000 on ESPN2, followed by South Carolina-Presbyterian on ESPN at a 0.32 and 503,000.

The 13 women’s games on Nielsen-rated television averaged 319,000 across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. Last year’s full, two-day first round averaged 257,000, including a pair of Saturday games on ABC.

Beyond the hardwood, the second night of the NCAA wrestling championships averaged 399,000 on ESPN — up 16% from 345,000 last year. Second round coverage of the PGA Tour at Tampa Bay averaged 383,000 on Golf Channel, down 11% from last year’s 429,000. The women’s free skate at the World Figure Skating Championships drew 331,000 in primetime on USA Network, tripling last year’s early morning coverage (110K). Qualifying for the F1 Australian Grand Prix averaged 223,000 on ESPN2.

In the NBA, Sixers-Lakers averaged 288,000 and Cavaliers-Timberwolves 182,000 on NBA TV — down from the same night last year, which coincided with the NCAA Sweet Sixteen (Sixers-Warriors: 419K; Pacers-Celtics: 187K).