Lowest NCAA Final Rating Ever

[djcon57]

The Villanova-UNC final averaged 17.8M viewers across TBS, TNT, truTV, down from 28.3M for Duke-Wisconsin (CBS) last year.

Ooof, basic cable. Not a win here.

 

[HoustonCuse]

CBS must be kicking themselves that this was the year they ceded the final four to a cable network.

 

[tee1222]

I really don't get it. What a tournament! I hate Nova with a capital , but give it up for that ending and the tourney as a whole.
Also, SU is pretty darn awesome!

 

[PoppyHart]

It wasn't just the Final. The semi-finals were down 45% from last year and they were both on TBS.

 

[dasher]

The NCAA deserves this for putting it on cable. Throw in barkley and this is what you get.

 

[CorduroyG]

9:19 tipoff is a little ridiculous. monday nite football doesnt even start that late. why wouldnt it start at 8 or 830?

 

[scottynguyen]

NCAA is on a roll with this and the college football playoff on New Years Eve.

 

[Brooky03]

Who doesn't have cable or a cord-cutting way to watch the game? Seriously. There's no way on earth there are that many people with bunny ears and converters rather than cable or an internet solution for watching tv.

 

[shandeezy7]

Moronic for CBS/Turner to not have this game on broadcast television. Advertisers must love the fact that they moved to cable. :bang:

 

[Knicks411]

It wasn't just the Final. The semi-finals were down 45% from last year and they were both on TBS.

Some of that had to be the blowout games though. Can't say that for last night.

Moronic for CBS/Turner to not have this game on broadcast television. Advertisers must love the fact that they moved to cable. :bang:

Don't think you can say it was moronic for Turner though. Had to have been the highest rated thing they ever had on their network.

 

[TheCusian]

NCAA is on a roll with this and the college football playoff on New Years Eve.

If only there were ways of finding data that could tell you what time would work best

 

[Townie72]

The NCAA deserves this for putting it on cable. Throw in barkley and this is what you get.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the NCAA doesn't get hurt by low viewership. They get their money upfront from the cable companies. Even the cable companies don't get hurt. They sold the advertising upfront of the broadcast.

The only ones to get hurt were the advertisers. They paid upfront based on an estimated number of viewers.

Now what may have been established is that cable companies can't bid prices up in the future because advertisers are going to discount projected viewership numbers.

 

[dasher]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the NCAA doesn't get hurt by low viewership. They get their money upfront from the cable companies. Even the cable companies don't get hurt. They sold the advertising upfront of the broadcast.

The only ones to get hurt were the advertisers. They paid upfront based on an estimated number of viewers.

Now what may have been established is that cable companies can't bid prices up in the future because advertisers are going to discount projected viewership numbers.

I believe that advertisers often go back to the cable companies and get rebates when the numbers are that far off.

 

[PoppyHart]

How do the ratings for the NBA Conference Finals on TNT compare to the ratings on ESPN? I know they rotate each year between East and West, and some games are on ABC I believe.

 

[Marsh01]

Too bad. People missed a great game

 

[Eric15]

NCAA is on a roll with this and the college football playoff on New Years Eve.

To each their own, but I LOVE those college football playoff games on New Year's Eve.

 

[MSOrange]

9:19 tipoff is a little ridiculous. monday nite football doesnt even start that late. why wouldnt it start at 8 or 830?

Heck I'd prefer an hour earlier and I'm in Central time.

 

[longtimefan]

The NCAA deserves this for putting it on cable. Throw in barkley and this is what you get.

Turner came up with (half of?) the cash. Follow the money.

 

[RowdyOrange]

Have to believe that the late start had something to do with it. A lot of people don't feel like staying up til midnight on a Monday, particularly if their team isn't the one playing.

 

[longislandcuse]

How exactly did they see this playing out? Almost 9:30 pm EST tip time on TBS?

Maybe SyFy will outbid them for the next contract.

 

[Briancuse]

How exactly did they see this playing out? Almost 9:30 pm EST tip time on TBS?

Maybe SyFy will outbid them for the next contract.

If the Croc hunter was still alive, he could replace Barkley.

 

[Townie72]

I believe that advertisers often go back to the cable companies and get rebates when the numbers are that far off.

So you would agree, the NCAA doesn't get hurt in this. They got their money.

The cable companies might get less money than they thought they were going to get, if they have to rebate based on viewership numbers (which may or may not be true based on what their contracts said)

Now NEXT YEAR is a different story because ad rates may be affected by this year's results. Which means the Cabl companies and/or networks get less money and the NCAA may also get less. I don't know what the length of these contracts are. These may be long term deals.

 

[donniesyracuse]

I wonder if the data includes those of us that watched on Sling TV or the Time Warner app. I'm sure those numbers are pretty small and would not influence the rating much, but I am curious.

 

[longtimefan]

So you would agree, the NCAA doesn't get hurt in this. They got their money.

The cable companies might get less money than they thought they were going to get, if they have to rebate based on viewership numbers (which may or may not be true based on what their contracts said)

Now NEXT YEAR is a different story because ad rates may be affected by this year's results. Which means the Cabl companies and/or networks get less money and the NCAA may also get less. I don't know what the length of these contracts are. These may be long term deals.

Contract is through 2024.

Edit: From here on, CBS has the odd years, Turner the even.

 

[Knicks411]

Is the late start any different than it's been recently? Feel like it's been about 9:20 for a while, no?