A first-ever preview of the NCAA Tournament bracket did not deliver particularly impressive numbers on CBS. In other news, the Knicks’ turmoil did not hurt ABC’s ratings on Sunday and the NHL on NBC fell double-digits from last year.
NCAA Bracket Preview Not Very Impressive
- The inaugural NCAA March Madness Bracket Preview had a 0.7 overnight rating on CBS Saturday afternoon, down 22% from its lead-in, a charity golf special from Pebble Beach (0.9). It was the weekend’s lowest rated sports program on CBS, trailing even the Professional Bull Riders tour in the same window the following day (1.0). In actual college basketball action, Kentucky/Alabama had a 1.1 overnight on Saturday (+57%) and Michigan/Indiana a 1.4 on Sunday (about even).
ABC’s Spurs/Knicks Up From Previous Week
- Spurs/Knicks delivered a 2.3 overnight rating on ABC’s NBA Sunday Showcase yesterday, up 44% from Clippers/Celtics the previous week (1.6) but down 8% from Thunder/Cavaliers two weeks earlier (2.5). There was no game on the comparable date last year, which featured the NBA All-Star Game on TNT. As previously noted, Warriors/Thunder had a 4.1 on NBA Saturday Primetime the previous night.
Wings/Wild Weak, But Tops Weekend on NBC
- Red Wings/Wild scored a 0.9 overnight rating on the NHL on NBC Sunday afternoon, down 18% from Bruins/Red Wings last year (1.1) and down 25% from Penguins/Blackhawks in 2015 (1.2). It tied NBC’s highest sports overnight of the weekend, matching the track-and-field Millrose Games the previous day and women’s downhill skiing earlier in the afternoon.
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily 2.13)
