The end of Kentucky’s undefeated run generated record numbers on Turner Sports.
The Wisconsin/Kentucky NCAA Tournament Final Four game earned a 13.3 overnight rating on TBS, TNT and TruTV Saturday night, up 48% from Kentucky/Wisconsin last year (9.0), up 30% from Michigan/Syracuse on CBS in 2013 (10.2), and the highest overnight for a national semifinal since 1993 (13.8).
The 13.3 overnight is easily the highest ever for a non-football sporting event on cable, topping the previous high of 9.6 for last year’s Belgium/USA World Cup match on ESPN. The previous high for a basketball game on cable was a 9.1 for Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, also on ESPN.
The Wildcats’ loss, their first of the season, earned a higher overnight than the team’s last two appearances in the national championship game — last year against Connecticut (12.9) and 2012 against Kansas (12.1).
Compared to other sports, the 13.3 topped every game of last year’s NBA Finals and six of last year’s seven World Series games (Game 7 had a 15.2). It was no match, however, for the comparable semifinals of the College Football Playoff — which earned overnights of 15.5 and 15.3 on ESPN.
Saturday’s overnight peaked at a 16.4 from 11-11:15 PM ET.
(Sat. numbers from Turner Sports)
