On an otherwise down night, NCAA Sweet Sixteen ratings got a big boost from Kentucky’s upset loss.
Thursday’s Kansas State-Kentucky NCAA Tournament regional semifinal had a 5.0 rating and 8.3 million viewers on CBS, up 22% in ratings and 25% in viewership from last year (Kansas-Purdue: 4.1, 6.6M), and up 18% and 22% respectively from 2016 (Maryland-Kansas: 4.2, 6.8M).
K-State’s upset win was the most-watched Thursday Sweet Sixteen game since 2011 (Arizona-Duke: 8.6M). Keep in mind several Friday games have had a larger audience over that span, including Kentucky-UCLA last year (10.0M).
For the tournament, it ranks third behind Syracuse-Michigan State (8.6M) and Texas A&M-North Carolina (9.4M) last Sunday.
In the same window on TBS, Florida State-Gonzaga drew a 1.65 rating (-26%) and 2.7 million viewers (-24%). It was the least-watched Sweet Sixteen game, regardless of night, since 2013 (Wichita State-La Salle: 2.3M).
The big jump on CBS more than made up for the big decline on TBS. The networks combined for 11.0 million viewers, up 8% and the highest in the window since 2015 (12.6M).
Earlier in the night, Loyola (Chi.)-Nevada delivered a 4.4 and 7.06 million on CBS — flat in ratings and down 1% in viewership from last year (Oregon-Michigan: 4.4, 7.13M) and up 23% and 26% respectively from 2016 (Villanova-Miami: 3.6, 5.6M).
On TBS, Michigan’s rout of Texas A&M had a 1.8 (-40%) and 3.0 million (-38%) on TBS. The combined audience of 10.1 million viewers fell 16% from last year (12.1M) but increased 20% from 2016 (8.4M).
[Thu. numbers from Programming Insider 3.23]
