Even with the caveat that last year set the bar high, viewership still fell off a cliff for North Carolina’s Final Four win over Syracuse.
North Carolina/Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament Final Four combined for 12.9 million viewers on TBS, TNT and TruTV Saturday night, down 43% from Wisconsin/Kentucky last year and down 21% from Kentucky/Wisconsin in 2014 (16.2M). Ratings were not immediately available.
The Tar Heels’ win earned the smallest audience for the late national semifinal in 13 years, since Syracuse/Texas in the 2003 Final Four (12.5M). Keep in mind 2003 numbers were anomalously low due to coverage of the Iraq War.
Saturday’s game was likely hampered by a poor lead-in from Villanova’s 44-point blowout of Oklahoma. That game was also down significantly from last year.
To put the numbers in perspective, no game of last year’s World Series had as small an audience, nor has any NBA Finals game since 2007. Even the College Football Playoff semifinals, which also incurred substantial declines in viewership, had significantly larger audiences of 15.6 million (Clemson/Oklahoma) and 18.6 million (Alabama/Michigan State).
(Sat. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
