March Madness TV ratings off, but online is hot
Source: Hollywood Reporter (Original Article)
March Madness is a little less mad this year than it’s been in the
past.
Ratings so far from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament have been
less than thrilling for CBS, which gives over a lot of its schedule
and stands to make millions in TV advertising and online.
Four days and 15 telecasts into March Madness, CBS is averaging a
9% decline to a 4.8 household rating/11 share compared with the
5.3/12 it earned in last year’s tournament. Thirteen broadcast
windows on CBS had lower ratings; only two, on the afternoon of
Good Friday, were up slightly. It’s the first time that CBS has had
first-round games on Good Friday, though for the Easter holiday CBS
said HUT levels were down 11% compared with a year ago as
well.
But it’s not all bad news.
After a record-breaking first day, CBSSports.com’s March Madness
on Demand keeps setting new marks. Through the end of Saturday’s
games, there were 3.4 billion hours of video and audio streamed, up
24% over a year ago and more than the 2.7 million hours recorded
for the tournament available online last year. There were 3.3
million daily unique visitors through Sunday, up 129% compared with
a year ago.
Final consumption data for the first round of the tournament is
available Tuesday.
March Madness is a little less mad this year than it’s been in the past.
Ratings so far from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament have been less than thrilling for CBS, which gives over a lot of its schedule and stands to make millions in TV advertising and online.
Four days and 15 telecasts into March Madness, CBS is averaging a 9% decline to a 4.8 household rating/11 share compared with the 5.3/12 it earned in last year’s tournament. Thirteen broadcast windows on CBS had lower ratings; only two, on the afternoon of Good Friday, were up slightly. It’s the first time that CBS has had first-round games on Good ANZ First Card Friday, though for the Easter holiday …continue reading