Though ratings were the lowest in years, Oregon-Kansas did well enough by cable standards.
Oregon-Kansas pulled a 5.4 final rating and 9.3 million viewers in Saturday’s NCAA Tournament Elite Eight on TBS, down 19% in ratings and viewership from Villanova-Kansas on CBS last year (6.7, 11.6M) and down 36% and 37% respectively from Kentucky-Notre Dame on TBS in 2015, the last win of UK’s undefeated run (8.4, 14.7M).
The 5.4 rating is the lowest for the late Saturday Elite Eight window in at least 20 years, falling below the previous mark of 5.8 for Wisconsin-Arizona in 2014, also on TBS.
Of the eight Elite Eight games that have aired on cable (dates back to 2014), the Ducks’ win ranks fourth behind Kentucky-Notre Dame in ’15, North Carolina-Notre Dame last year (5.8, 10.1M) and Wisconsin-Arizona in ’14 (5.8, 10.0M).
Overall, it was the 11th-most watched college basketball game in cable history behind those four telecasts and all seven Final Four games on Turner Sports, though that looks less impressive when one considers there have only been 15 Final Four or Elite Eight games to air on cable.
Compared to other cable sporting events, Saturday’s game ranks a respectable 13th over the 12 months (not including the NFL) behind last year’s Final Four, six of the seven College Football Playoff/New Year’s Six bowl games, three NBA playoff games and the Cubs’ pennant clincher in last year’s NLCS.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 3.28)
