Even absent the biggest star in college basketball, Duke still delivered strong ratings for ESPN last weekend.
Last Saturday’s Duke-Syracuse men’s college basketball game delivered a 1.8 rating and 2.98 million viewers on ESPN, up 64% in ratings and 71% in viewership from the same matchup last year (1.1, 1.74M) and up 125% and 116% respectively from 2017 (Kansas-Texas: 0.8, 1.38M).
The Blue Devils’ win ranks as the sixth-most watched college basketball game of the season, with Duke having played in four of the top six, five of the top eight, and nine of the top fifteen.
On Tuesday night, Duke-Virginia Tech drew 1.67 million viewers — up 166% from last year (Florida-Alabama: 625K) and up 34% from 2017 (Duke-FSU: 1.25M). Ratings were not immediately available.
Duke’s upset loss was the top sporting event of the night, finishing comfortably ahead of the competing NBA games on TNT (Celtics-Raptors: 1.25M; Thunder-Nuggets: 1.10M).
In other action, CBS scored a 1.8 and 2.88 million viewers for Michigan State-Michigan last Sunday — the network’s second-largest audience of the season. Indiana-Michigan in January, which aired immediately after an NFL Wild Card Game, holds the top spot (2.99M). There was no comparable window last year.
Regardless of network, the Spartans’ win ranks eighth for the season. Each of the ten most-watched games this season have involved Duke, Kentucky or Michigan.
CBS also drew a 1.2 and 1.80 million for Florida State-North Carolina on Saturday; again, there was no comparable window last year. FOX topped out at a 0.40 (-2%) and 558,000 (-7%) for Marquette-Providence Saturday.
Returning to ESPN, Tennessee-LSU was the network’s top non-Duke game of the weekend, with a 1.0 (+83%) and 1.45 million (+86%) Saturday afternoon.
Top college basketball audiences of 2018-19
