CBS and TNT have kicked off the NCAA Tournament to a stellar beginning. According to the networks' announcement on Friday, the March Madness' opening round on Thursday achieved the highest viewership for an opening round since 2015.
The quartet of networks including CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV collectively averaged 8.5 million viewers throughout the day.
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
The ongoing first round of the tournament has been filled with major upsets, which likely contributed to Thursday's strong viewership performance. These upsets have also resulted in a significant reduction in the number of perfect brackets, with only around 100 remaining on Yahoo Sports.
Thursday is for March Madness upsets
Three No. 11 seeds caused upsets in the opening round of the tournament. Duquesne defeated No. 6 BYU, Oregon overcame No. 6 South Carolina in the afternoon, and North Carolina State continued its winning streak with a victory over Texas Tech on Thursday night, following their Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title win.
Jack Gohlke was the biggest reason on Thursday, leading No. 14 Oakland to a significant upset victory against No. 3 Kentucky. Gohlke's remarkable performance included sinking 10 triples, falling just one short of the all-time single-game tournament record, and scoring 32 points to secure the win for his team.
In the final game of the day, Kansas narrowly avoided a collapse after almost squandering a 22-point lead in the second half against No. 13 Samford. The Jayhawks, who had faced challenges leading up to the NCAA Tournament, managed to secure the win following a controversial foul call on a Nicolas Timberlake dunk in the closing seconds of the game.
Upward trend for NCAA Tournament
John Bogusz, head of ad sales for CBS Sports, noted that this year's tournament is experiencing a significant increase in terms of revenue and pricing, trending up in high single digits, per Hollywood Reporter. He mentioned that sports content is surpassing entertainment content in the marketplace. Bogusz also stated that the entire tournament is nearly sold out, with particular demand for the Final Four and championship games. They are keeping a few spots reserved in case of last-minute interest.
The viewership for the first four games also saw a notable increase compared to last year. The games on Tuesday and Wednesday this year drew in just over 6 million viewers on truTV, marking an 18% rise from the numbers in 2023. However, this figure is still notably lower than the record-setting 7.77 million viewership achieved in 2021.
Last year's March Madness ratings experienced a decline, consistent with the broader trend in linear TV viewership. However, despite this decline, the championship game between UConn and San Diego State garnered an impressive average of nearly 15 million viewers. This made it the most-watched basketball game of the year, surpassing even the NBA Finals in viewership numbers.
The women's championship game, which saw LSU triumph over Caitlin Clark and Iowa, drew an average of nearly 10 million viewers. This made it the most-watched women's college basketball game at that time.
With the NFL offseason underway, MLB in preseason mode, and a relative lull in the NBA and NHL schedules, March Madness could provide a boost to TV viewership until the NBA playoffs and the upcoming Paris Olympics in the summer.
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