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NCAA Tournament Surges in TV Viewing, Sets Records Across Digital and Social Platforms

Mar 27, 2017  •  Post A Comment

The 2017 “March Madness” NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is pulling in big viewer numbers for games airing across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. The networks announced today that through Sunday’s Regional Finals, coverage is averaging 9.8 million viewers across the networks, up 10% from a year ago and the third-most-watched tournament in 24 years.

The NCAA Tournament is also averaging a 6.0/13 rating/share, up 9% from 2016 (5.5/12).

“This weekend’s Regional Finals on TBS (Saturday) and CBS (Sunday) averaged 10.2 million viewers and a 6.0/13 rating/share, both up +11% respectively from last year (9.2 million viewers and 5.4/11 rating/share),” the announcement notes. “Sunday’s Regional Final thriller between North Carolina and Kentucky was watched by an average of 15.5 million viewers, making it the second-most-watched Regional Final game (Saturday or Sunday) since 2005 (17.9 million viewers). The game peaked with 22.1 million viewers from 7:15-7:30 PM, ET. The Kentucky vs. North Carolina game is up +5% from the comparable game window on CBS in 2015 (Duke-Gonzaga).”

Meanwhile, NCAA March Madness Live has generated 88 million live streams to date, up 31% from last year and an all-time record.

“Engagement across official March Madness social media handles continues to increase, garnering 53.5 million engagements through Sunday for an increase of 75% over last year,” the announcement adds.

 

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