Men's Basketball Final Four and College Basketball Crown: TV Viewership Analysis
The men's basketball Final Four returned to cable TV with a doubleheader featuring UConn-Illinois and Michigan-Arizona, attracting an average of 14.2 million viewers across TNT/TBS/truTV. This was slightly lower than the previous year's broadcast TV viewership of 15.5 million for the Final Four. Michigan's dominant performance against Arizona was the top game of the night, drawing 14.3 million viewers on TBS/TNT/truTV, with an additional 810,000 viewers tuning in for the Fab Five alt-cast on truTV. The UConn-Illinois game in the early window also garnered 14.2 million viewers, down from the previous year but higher than two years ago.
The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament experienced a 7% increase in viewership leading up to the Final Four, but the final numbers for the championship game are yet to be determined. In comparison to the NIT, the College Basketball Crown (CBC) saw an increase in viewership, with West Virginia's victory over Oklahoma in the title game drawing 950,000 viewers on Fox, up 16% from the previous year. The full CBC tournament averaged 460,000 viewers across FS1 and Fox, a significant increase from the previous year. The NIT title game between Auburn and Tulsa also saw an increase in viewership, with 700,000 viewers tuning in on ESPN2. The overall viewership for the NIT across ESPN networks also saw an increase from the previous season.
In conclusion, the men's basketball Final Four on cable TV had a strong viewership, with Michigan's game against Arizona being the highlight of the night. The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and the College Basketball Crown both experienced increases in viewership, outperforming the NIT in terms of audience numbers. The final numbers for the championship game will determine the overall success of the tournament.