The first meeting of the season between college basketball’s fiercest rivals was not as big of a draw as usual.
The February 10 North Carolina/Duke game drew a 1.4 U.S. rating and 2.2 million viewers on ESPN, down 33% in ratings and 31% in viewers from last year’s comparable game between the rivals (2.1, 3.3 mil), and down 22% and 15%, respectively, from their comparable meeting in ’08 (1.8, 2.6 mil).
The game was not even the most-viewed college basketball telecast of the week on ESPN. That distinction went to Kentucky/Tennessee last Saturday night, which drew a 1.4 U.S. rating and 2.5 million viewers.
Elsewhere, the February 10 Connecticut/Syracuse game drew a 1.3 U.S. rating and 2.1 million viewers, and Kansas/Texas on February 8 drew a 1.4 and 2.0 million.
