Lowest NCAA Final Rating Ever

[longislandcuse]

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

I do think being on TBS is an absolutely huge deal. Being late on CBS feels important. Being late on TBS is "what is this on instead of my Friends reruns"?

 

[Knicks411]

I do think being on TBS is an absolutely huge deal. Being late on CBS feels important. Being late on TBS is "what is this on instead of my Friends reruns"?

Being on TBS is obviously an issue. That game does at least what the final last year did if it's on CBS

 

[Orange2389]

keep the tournament from sweet 16 till finals on CBS. replace barkly the clown and keep tip off times reasonable

 

[CaliCuse]

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.

I guarantee if the Orangw was playing in the game the ratings would have been a great deal higher. I have found a good many Orange fans in my state. Most have never been ti Syracuse but like the style of play or the colors.

 

[bballbeadle]

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

Yes, for a long time.

 

[donniesyracuse]

Sling TV saw record madness with NCAA finals

 

[upperdeck]

there were crazy numbers of people watching on line that didnt get counted in the ratings but the tech guys know how many houses that is. I really dont think that many people didnt watch this year over last, its still being talked about when I go around town.

 

[OttoMets]

I'm fairly sure the championship has been played at 9:17 or 9:21 or some weird time since at least the early '90s. The late tip isn't the cause; once again, the blame lies with the NCAA's greed, this time in seeking such a high figure that two broadcasters had to partner up.

They've really whored out for every last dollar: Final Four on cable, commercial break for even the shortest timeout, 22-minute halftime (which truly changes the game and should never have been considered), etc.

 

[OttoMets]

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

This says otherwise, but my memory is the same as yours - some unorthodox number right around 9:20 since at least the Webber game in 1992 or 1993.

Maybe the box score I linked is incorrect and we're right.

 

[Knicks411]

This says otherwise, but my memory is the same as yours - some unorthodox number right around 9:20 since at least the Webber game in 1992 or 1993.

Maybe the box score I linked is incorrect and we're right.

Totally off topic, but the second Webber game was the first title game I remember watching

 

[OttoMets]

Totally off topic, but the second Webber game was the first title game I remember watching

Yeah, other than 1987, the first I remember - staying up until 11:30 on a Monday was late for a non-Cuse game.

 

[Millhouse]

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.

casual flippers don't find TBS. a lot of people who watch games don't watch them the way we do.

 

[MikeSU02]

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.

Not only those, but the CBS Sports app, DVR, etc.

Would really be interested to see the breakdown by platform.

 

[Dave85]

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

It was all Barkley for the ratings drop.

 

[Dave85]

Maybe the ratings were down because of too many God dam commercials!

 

[HoustonCuse]

I'm fairly sure the championship has been played at 9:17 or 9:21 or some weird time since at least the early '90s. The late tip isn't the cause; once again, the blame lies with the NCAA's greed, this time in seeking such a high figure that two broadcasters had to partner up.

They've really whored out for every last dollar: Final Four on cable, commercial break for even the shortest timeout, 22-minute halftime (which truly changes the game and should never have been considered), etc.

I will say this: I don't know if the broadcasters HAD to pair up, but I am glad they did. They needed more channels to show the games. The partnership between CBS and Turner is fairly unprecedented, but we benefit from it. It was not that long ago that we may or may not even see a Syracuse first or second round game - especially those of us away from the northeast. You'd maybe get 10 or 12 minutes of "live look in." So as a result of partnering up, CBS had to agree to let Turner show the Final Four on some basis, but I'm in favor because now I can watch every single game in the tourney all the way through. To me, TBS is just a different random number on my remote than CBS. All the production value is the same.

 

[Knicks411]

I will say this: I don't know if the broadcasters HAD to pair up, but I am glad they did. They needed more channels to show the games. The partnership between CBS and Turner is fairly unprecedented, but we benefit from it. It was not that long ago that we may or may not even see a Syracuse first or second round game - especially those of us away from the northeast. You'd maybe get 10 or 12 minutes of "live look in." So as a result of partnering up, CBS had to agree to let Turner show the Final Four on some basis, but I'm in favor because now I can watch every single game in the tourney all the way through. To me, TBS is just a different random number on my remote than CBS. All the production value is the same.

It's one of those things where even now, 5 years or whatever after they did it, it's stunning to think there was a time when you couldn't watch every tournament game in it's entirety.

 

[Millhouse]

Sling TV saw record madness with NCAA finals

well, that's no surprise. zero people watched anything on sling tv a couple years ago

 

[SBU72]

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.

Oh great, commercials every 5 minutes! Real time, not game time.

 

[LAOrange]

Sling TV saw record madness with NCAA finals

I don't have cable anymore. I watched the games on sling through the roku.

 

[kirbivore]

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

Turner was footing some of the bill. That's why every so often they get the final weekend games.

 

[WaHoos4Me]

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

Agreed. The start time of this game is incredulous. For me, I have a 40 mile drive to work and the commute alone is typically 2 hours. Nova/DC Metro area... If they, CBS & their affiliates, want to continue with this time frame format, then perhaps they should consider moving the semi/final to a Friday/Sunday format... It's viewership numbers alone, so Friday's would be fine... people out drinking at bars/chowing on food with an earlier Sunday start time say 7:30'ish even would give not only the west coast people time to wake up and get out their beds, but also give the young kids, under 10 the ability to watch the game also... Maybe I'm mistaken, but that'd seem to bring a bigger audience and a more exciting weekend pretty much totally dedicated to NCAA madness...

 

[NYCSUGrad]

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.

I cut cable last year but care enough about sports and particularly college basketball that I spend the 25 a month for sling tv and access to all the ESPN channels (except classic) plus ESPN3. I got TNT TBS and Tru TV as well on it, plus many stations I never watch. But I may cut it off till September, if I decide I really don't need to watch the French Open, Wimbeldon and the handful of games the Mets will play on ESPN, and just get it around baseball playoff time, and maybe for the US Open too.

Casual fans of college basketball who don't have cable and don't really follow sports in general don't care if they can't watch ESPN all year round. If they want to see the final four and it's not available at home, they'll go to a bar or a friend's house to watch it.

 

[Knicks411]

Agreed. The start time of this game is incredulous. For me, I have a 40 mile drive to work and the commute alone is typically 2 hours. Nova/DC Metro area... If they, CBS & their affiliates, want to continue with this time frame format, then perhaps they should consider moving the semi/final to a Friday/Sunday format... It's viewership numbers alone, so Friday's would be fine... people out drinking at bars/chowing on food with an earlier Sunday start time say 7:30'ish even would give not only the west coast people time to wake up and get out their beds, but also give the young kids, under 10 the ability to watch the game also... Maybe I'm mistaken, but that'd seem to bring a bigger audience and a more exciting weekend pretty much totally dedicated to NCAA madness...

I don't think they'd ever really do it on a Friday; though Saturday is also a bad TV night and they do it then. They'd need to figure somehting out with the women's tournament though, since they play on Sunday.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

I'll be honest, I went to bed early and caught the highlights the next morning. Had SU been in it, I obviously would've stayed up.