March Into Madness: Tournament Tips Today
ESPN Championship Week Ratings Could Augur Strong Viewership For CBS
Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 3/19/2009 11:58:06 AM
March Madness begins today and if ESPN's "Championship Week" is any barometer, CBS should be in for solid tourney ratings.
ESPN posted its most-viewed audiences for its Championship Week Presented by Dick's Sporting Goods since 1990 -- the first year of the network's historical viewership records -- among households and total, averaging 1.52 million and just under 1.6 million, respectively. The network matched its best ratings mark for the college hoops extravaganza, averaging a 1.3 rating, a figure it also scored in 1996 and 1998, according to network officials.
ESPN's telecasts grew 27% to 983,298 million households, 31% in viewers to 1.22 million and 30% in ratings to a 1.0 average, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
For its part, ESPN2 posted up a 12% gain to 358,712 households, 12% in viewers to 450,359 and 33% in ratings to a 0.3.
ESPN scored its most-viewed Big East Conference Tournament ratings since at least 1990 among households and viewers, averaging 1.37 and 1.76 million, respectively, based on a on a 1.4 rating. The title game in which Louisville topped Syracuse was the network's top Big East, regular- or post-season since 1990, garnering a 2.76 million households, 3.87 million viewers and a 2.8 rating.
With the 63-game tourney tipping today, CBS Sports is offering fans myriad multimedia entries into the Madness: via linear TV on CBS; on radio, via syndication on Westwood One and on satellite through Sirius; streamed games on the Internet through March Madness on Demand; DirecTV's out-of-home Mega March Madness package; mobile via AT&T, Apple and Verizon; and CBS College Sports Network, which has a pair of first-round games: Washington- Mississippi State today and Louisville-Morehead State tomorrow.
The cable network, which counts some 30 million subs, has expanded its game for the tourney through a free preview that put it before 50 million homes.
"NCAA VOD: The Best Of March Madness," available to video customers of 20 cable, satellite and telco providers, proffers 40 memorable moments from tournaments past and will serve up extensive highlights, stats and interviews during the duration of the Madness, which concludes on April 6 with the national championship game at Ford Field in Detroit.
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