Though not nearly as strong a draw as Wisconsin/Kentucky, Duke’s blowout of Michigan State hit a multi-year high for Turner Sports.
The Duke/Michigan State NCAA Tournament Final Four game drew a 9.6 overnight rating on TBS, TNT and TruTV Saturday evening, up 30% from Connecticut/Florida last year (7.4), up 8% from Louisville/Wichita State on CBS in 2013 (8.9), and the highest for the early national semifinal since 2005 (10.3).
The previous mark was a 9.5 for Florida/George Mason in 2006.
Going back to the Elite Eight, the last six NCAA Tournament telecast windows have hit multi-year highs in overnight ratings — including 22-year highs for Wisconsin/Kentucky on Saturday night (13.3) and Michigan State/Louisville in the Elite Eight (7.6).
The Final Four national semifinals averaged an 11.4 overnight rating on TBS, TNT and TruTV, the highest since 1995 (11.6). The NCAA Tournament as a whole is averaging a 7.5 overnight, matching the highest mark at this point of the event since 1992.
(Sat. numbers from Turner Sports)
