Despite a 9% increase in ratings for the National Championship Game, CBS average rating for the NCAA Tournament was the lowest ever, sans the war-affected 2003 event.
The 6.1 average was down 3% from the 6.3 for last year’s average, and comes on the heels of a generally unimpressive ratings year for college basketball. In January, CBS set a record low for a college basketball telecast on the network, drawing a 0.8 rating with a 1 share for Marquette/Pittsburgh (on opposite the NFC Championship Game). The highest rated regular season game of the year was a 3.0 rating for Duke/UNC (nothing to be ashamed of, considering that a non-Christmas NBA regular season game has not drawn a 3.0 or higher since February of 2005).
NCAA Tournament through the Elite Eight by Round/day
First, Second Rounds
Thursday: 4.5 average rating (down 10% from a 5.0 in 2006)
Friday: 4.6 average rating (down 8% from a 5.0 in 2006)
Saturday: 5.1 average rating (down 4% from a 5.3 in 2006)
Sunday: 5.3 average rating (down 4% from a 5.5 in 2006)
Sweet Sixteen
Thursday: 6.3 average rating (down 15% from a 7.4 in 2006)
Friday: 5.8 average rating (down 8% from a 6.3 in 2006)
Elite Eight
Saturday: 6.3 average rating (down 3% from a 6.5 in 2006)
Sunday: 6.4 average rating (down 7% from a 6.9 in 2006)
Declines across the board. Considering the trend of declining television ratings for sporting events, this is no surprise. However, when one factors in the lack of upsets, and the amount of marquee programs left in the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and Final Four, the rating becomes more than disappointing — ominous, in fact. If the best programs in college basketball cannot reverse the ratings slide, then what will?
While the Tournament as a whole was a rather large disappointment, the Final Four and National Championship Game saw significant increases. Final ratings for the National Semifinals will not be available until Friday, though the numbers should be up by a double-digit margin from last year. Meanwhile, the National Championship Game drew a 12.2/20, the highest rating for a sporting event since the Superbowl, and was 21% higher than the 10.1/20 the Daytona 500 drew in February.
