March Madness is in full swing with some of the game’s biggest universities already getting upset. While some fans will be disappointed their teams have been knocked out, networks will be ecstatic with figures they have experienced so far.
Ratings have been exceptional for the NCAA tournament early on this year with numbers reaching record highs. According to a recent post by March Madness Men’s Basketball TV, TNT, CBS, TNT and truTV announced that Thursday’s opening day fixtures were the most watched first round games since 2015. They also announced that the viewership for the First Four and the First Round action were the best since 2014, under traditional format.
CBS Sports and TNT Sports Deliver Best Start to NCAA Men's Tournament in 10 Years pic.twitter.com/mrdW2ZkRlU
— March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) March 22, 2024
In a recent article from Sports Media Watch, Jon Lewis outlined how Oakland’s upset of Kentucky turned out to be the most watched opening game of the tournament since 2019. The Oakland-Kentucky game saw an audience of 6.21 million viewers on CBS and a 3.4 rating. Not since Duke University defeated North Dakota State in 2019 have we seen numbers like that.
According to Nielsen ratings, the four networks (CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV) saw an average viewership of 8.5 million on Thursday, an increase from the 8.4 million viewership recorded in 2015.
Despite some of the bigger teams in the nation missing out on the NCAA tournament, the networks have managed to attract a substantial crowd to this years event. It will be interesting to see how the ratings rank in the coming days with Sweet 16 and Elite 8 on the horizon.
