Last weekend included three of the ten most-watched college basketball games this season.
Sunday’s Michigan State/Ohio State college basketball game had a 1.5 final rating and 2.4 million viewers on CBS, up 114% in ratings and 131% in viewership from Michigan/Wisconsin last year (0.6, 1.0M). Unlike last year, coverage did not face the NFL playoffs, as the Steelers/Chiefs game scheduled to air concurrently on NBC was moved to primetime.
Instead of the more than 30 million that would have been watching NFL coverage, the game faced competition from an NHL regular season matchup that had just 1.2 million on NBC.
The Buckeyes’ win earned the fourth-largest college basketball audience of the season, behind Kentucky/North Carolina on December 17 (3.6M), Wisconsin/Purdue on January 15 (3.0M) and Kentucky/Louisville on December 21 (2.7M).
In other action on CBS, Texas A&M/Mississippi State scored a 0.6 (-25%) and 830,000 (-29%) on Saturday afternoon.
Over on ESPN, Duke/Louisville earned a 1.4 and 2.1 million on Saturday afternoon — up 40% in ratings and 46% in viewership from N.C. State/North Carolina last year (1.0, 1.4M). The Cardinals’ win ranks as the sixth-most watched game on any network this season and the third-most watched on cable.
Airing immediately afterward, Florida State/North Carolina had a 1.2 (+50%) and 1.9 million (+64%) — ranking as the tenth-most watched game of the season.
| TOP CBB GAMES, 2016-17 SEASON Through January 16 Ranked by viewership |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Game | Net | Rtg. | Vwrs. |
| 1 | Kentucky/UNC December 17 |
CBS | 2.2 | 3.62M |
| 2 | Wisconsin/Purdue January 8 |
CBS | 1.9 | 2.97M |
| 3 | Kentucky/Louisville December 21 |
ESPN | 1.7 | 2.72M |
| 4 | MSU/Ohio State January 15 |
CBS | 1.5 | 2.363M |
| 5 | Kansas/Duke November 15 |
ESPN | 1.5 | 2.361M |
| 6 | Duke/Louisville January 14 |
ESPN | 1.4 | 2.09M |
| 7 | Kentucky/MSU November 15 |
ESPN | 1.3 | 2.08M |
| 8 | UNC/Indiana November 30 |
ESPN | 1.3 | 1.97M |
| 9 | UCLA/Kentucky December 3 |
CBS | 1.3 | 1.93M |
| 10 | FSU/UNC January 14 |
ESPN | 1.2 | 1.92M |
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 1/18)
