Games of 1.5 Million or More Viewers, 2022-23 Season:
All #'s are in millions.

Big Ten Final: Purdue vs. Penn State, Sun. 3/12, 3:30pm, CBS, 3.177M
DePaul at Creighton, Sun. 12/25, 4:30pm, FOX, 2.991
North Carolina at Duke, Sat. 2/4, 6:30pm, ESPN, 2.855
Big Ten SF: Indiana vs. Penn State, Sat. 3/11, 3:30pm, CBS, 2.805M
ACC Final: Duke vs. Virginia, Sat. 3/11, 8:30pm, ESPN, 2.697M
Duke at North Carolina, Sat. 3/4, 6:30pm, ESPN, 2.628
Big Ten SF: Purdue vs. Ohio State, Sat. 3/ 11, 1pm, CBS, 2.541M
Big 12 Final: Kansas vs. Texas, Sat. 3/11, 6pm, ESPN, 2.485M
Michigan State at Indiana, Sun. 1/22, noon, CBS, 2.248
Michigan at Indiana, Sun. 3/5, 4:30pm, CBS, 2.213
Purdue at Indiana, Sat. 2/4, 4pm, ESPN, 2.026
Kentucky vs. Michigan State at Indianapolis, Tue. 11/15, 7pm, ESPN, 2.026

UCLA vs. Kentucky at New York, Sat. 12/17, 6pm, CBS, 1.989
Colorado at UCLA, Sat. 1/14, 7:30pm, FOX, 1.982
SEC Final: Alabama vs. Texas A&M, Sun. 3/12, 1pm, ESPN, 1.949M
Kansas at Kentucky, Sat. 1/28, 8pm, ESPN, 1.89
Virginia at North Carolina, Sat. 2/25, 6pm, ESPN, 1.866
Michigan State at Purdue, Sun. 1/29 noon, CBS, 1.852
Kentucky at Arkansas, Sat. 3/4, 2pm, CBS, 1.841
Duke at Virginia, Sat. 2/11, 4pm, ESPN, 1.745
Auburn at Kentucky, Sat. 2/25, 4pm, CBS, 1.743
Indiana at Purdue, Sat. 2/25, 7:30pm, FOX, 1.731
Florida at Kentucky, Sat. 2/4, 8:30pm, ESPN, 1.719
Indiana at Michigan, Sat. 2/11, 6pm, ESPN, 1.682
AAC Final: Houston vs. Memphis, Sun. 3/12, 3:30pm, ESPN, 1.68M
Wisconsin at Michigan, Sun. 2/26, 2pm, CBS, 1.675
Kentucky at Tennessee, Sat. 1/14, noon, ESPN, 1.666
MWC Final: San Diego State vs. Utah State, Sat. 3/11, 6pm, CBS, 1.658M
North Carolina at Indiana, Wed. 11/30, 9:30pm, ESPN, 1.63
North Carolina vs. Ohio State at New York, Sat. 12/17, 3:30pm, CBS, 1.623
Pac 12 Final: UCLA vs. Arizona, Sat. 3/11, 10:30pm, ESPN, 1.57M
Duke vs. Kansas at Indianapolis, Tue. 11/15, 10pm, ESPN, 1.559
Kansas at Texas, Sat. 3/4, 4pm, ESPN, 1.556
Baylor at Kansas, Sat. 2/18, 4pm, ESPN, 1.555
Tennessee at Kentucky, Sat. 2/18, 2pm, CBS, 1.55
Kansas at Kansas State, Tue. 1/17, 7pm, ESPN, 1.535
Michigan at Michigan State, Sat. 1/7, 2:30pm, FOX, 1.531
Ohio State at Michigan, Sun. 2/5, 1pm, CBS, 1.528
West Virginia at Kansas, Sat. 2/25, 4pm, ESPN, 1.507
SEC SF: Alabama vs Missouri, Sat. 3/11, 1pm, ESPN, 1.511M

Non ESPN games:
CBS:
Big Ten Final: Purdue vs. Penn State, Sun. 3/12, 3:30pm, CBS, 3.177M
Big Ten SF: Indiana vs. Penn State, Sat. 3/11, 3:30pm, CBS, 2.805M
Big Ten SF: Purdue vs. Ohio State, Sat. 3/ 11, 1pm, CBS, 2.541M
Michigan State at Indiana, Sun. 1/22, noon, CBS, 2.248
Michigan at Indiana, Sun. 3/5, 4:30pm, CBS, 2.213
UCLA vs. Kentucky at New York, Sat. 12/17, 6pm, CBS, 1.989
Michigan State at Purdue, Sun. 1/29 noon, CBS, 1.852
Kentucky at Arkansas, Sat. 3/4, 2pm, CBS, 1.841
Auburn at Kentucky, Sat. 2/18, 4pm, CBS, 1.743
Wisconsin at Michigan, Sun. 2/26, 2pm, CBS, 1.675
MWC Final: San Diego State vs. Utah State, Sat. 3/11, 6pm, CBS, 1.658M
North Carolina vs. Ohio State at New York, Sat. 12/17, 3:30pm, CBS, 1.623
Tennessee at Kentucky, Sat. 2/18, 2pm, CBS, 1.55
Ohio State at Michigan, Sun. 2/5, 1pm, CBS, 1.528
ACC 2nd: Virginia vs. North Carolina, Thur. 3/9, 7pm, ESPN, 1.512M

FOX:
DePaul at Creighton, Sun. 12/25, 4:30pm, FOX, 2.991
Colorado at UCLA, Sat. 1/14, 7:30pm, FOX, 1.982
Indiana at Purdue, Sat. 2/25, 7:30pm, FOX, 1.731
Michigan at Michigan State, Sat. 1/7, 2:30pm, FOX, 1.531

Last Saturday had three pretty big games on at the same time and it kind of tells you about TV viewing habits and how bad they are to break. Texas A&M at Kentucky was on ESPN, Iowa at Ohio State was on FOX, and UCLA at Arizona was on ABC. I actually mostly watched UCLA-Arizona, the game featured two top 10 teams. But Texas A&M-Kentucky won the time slot, UCLA-Arizona finished last with less than 1 million viewers. TCU-Kansas on CBS started at 1pm and outdrew all of them.

So far FOX has had almost as many games of 1 million or more viewers as CBS this season. ABC has just one so far and if you can't get 1 million for a game with two top 10 teams it's going to be tough to get other games with more than 1 million. ABC should be able to get the same viewership as FOX and CBS and they have the ACC with two of the biggest names in men's basketball in Duke and North Carolina.

Kentucky, despite their tough times, still is a huge draw. They got over 1 million for Georgia. Eventually when the SEC's rights go to ESPN full time they should be able to air UK games on ABC (not sure they can air them now as CBS probably has their OTA rights now).

Creighton

Sports Media Watch doesn't post weekly ratings stories but they did about North Carolina/Duke:

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2023/02...mens-high/

"The first meeting between North Carolina and Duke in the post-Coach K era delivered in the ratings with a four-year high.

Saturday’s North Carolina-Duke men’s college basketball game averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.86 million viewers on ESPN, marking the highest rating and viewership for the rivals’ first meeting of the season since Zion Williamson’s lone season at Duke in 2019 (2.7, 4.34M). Ratings jumped 17% and viewership 31% from last year (1.2, 2.19M).

Overall, the Blue Devils’ win delivered the second-largest regular season audience for the rivalry since that same 2019 season. Only their final meeting last season — Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game — averaged a larger audience (1.95, 3.98M). (Keep in mind that two games in that span (in the 2019-20 season) aired prior to the addition of out-of-home viewing in Nielsen estimates.)"

Also of note...

"The Purdue-Indiana lead-in averaged a 1.1 and 2.03 million viewers, up sharply from Baylor-Kansas last year (0.7, 1.17M) and tied with Kentucky-Michigan State in November’s Champions Classic as the fourth-largest audience of the season."

"In other college basketball action, Sunday’s South Carolina-UConn women’s game averaged a 0.6 and 1.09 million on FOX — marking the first time in five years that a women’s basketball game has topped the million viewer mark outside of the NCAA Tournament or Olympics. No WNBA game has reached that mark since Candace Parker’s career debut in 2008."

Women's basketball interest is rising, and this is without Paige Bueckers. This Sunday we could potentially have two undefeated teams playing (LSU at South Carolina).

3 of the top 10 games of the season last Saturday in a 7 hour timeblock.

My threshold for listing in this thread is 1.5 million. Last Sunday's LSU at South Carolina women's basketball game almost made the list.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2023/02...ears-espn/

"Sunday’s LSU-South Carolina women’s college basketball game averaged a 0.8 rating and 1.47 million viewers on ESPN, marking the largest audience for a regular season women’s game since Stanford-UConn drew 2.1 million in 2010. South Carolina this season has played in the two most-watched regular season games of the past six years, with their matchup against UConn scoring 1.09 million on FOX earlier this month."

The Pac 12 couldn't get viewers in men's basketball this year. Only two games involving a Pac 12 team got more than 1.5 million, one involved Kentucky and the other aired after an NFL game. Last Saturday the two clear cut best teams in the conference, Arizona at UCLA, played. They got 800 THOUSAND. Of course that's what you get airing at 10pm ET. They got slightly better ratings earlier on CBS, Stanford at Oregon, got 1.018M at 4:30pm. But compare to 1.841M for the Kentucky-Arkansas before that. The earlier UCLA at Arizona game aired on ABC at 2pm ET and got 911 thousand, it lost to both Texas A&M-Kentucky on ESPN and Iowa-Ohio State on FOX airing around the same time as well as TCU-Kansas that started at 1pm that day.

Speaking of can't get viewers, the MVC. 876K. This is taking up a prime Sunday afternoon slot on CBS? Houston at Memphis was the lead in and got 1.213M. I know in the next Big Ten contract CBS is supposed to air the Big Ten women's basketball championship. Something is going to be bumped on Sunday to make room for it. Of course Houston won't be in the AAC next year so maybe it will be them.

FOX aired only two games with viewership over 1.5 million. CBS aired ten. ABC aired zero. If ESPN let ABC have some of their better games they could easily get some high viewership games. FOX was hurt a lot this year by Villanova not doing well. I know FOX has had their share of Big Ten games though and FOX had only two Big Ten games of 1.5 million or more while CBS had five (not counting UNC-OSU). All five of CBS's top games aired Sunday afternoons. FOX did air Illinois/Purdue last Sunday afternoon at 12:30pm and it lost to Houston-Memphis on CBS. FOX needs to better with college basketball and "Primetime Hoops" isn't it.

(03-07-2023 04:28 PM)schmolik Wrote:  The Pac 12 couldn't get viewers in men's basketball this year. Only two games involving a Pac 12 team got more than 1.5 million, one involved Kentucky and the other aired after an NFL game. Last Saturday the two clear cut best teams in the conference, Arizona at UCLA, played. They got 800 THOUSAND. Of course that's what you get airing at 10pm ET. They got slightly better ratings earlier on CBS, Stanford at Oregon, got 1.018M at 4:30pm. But compare to 1.841M for the Kentucky-Arkansas before that. The earlier UCLA at Arizona game aired on ABC at 2pm ET and got 911 thousand, it lost to both Texas A&M-Kentucky on ESPN and Iowa-Ohio State on FOX airing around the same time as well as TCU-Kansas that started at 1pm that day.

Speaking of can't get viewers, the MVC. 876K. This is taking up a prime Sunday afternoon slot on CBS? Houston at Memphis was the lead in and got 1.213M. I know in the next Big Ten contract CBS is supposed to air the Big Ten women's basketball championship. Something is going to be bumped on Sunday to make room for it. Of course Houston won't be in the AAC next year so maybe it will be them.

FOX aired only two games with viewership over 1.5 million. CBS aired ten. ABC aired zero. If ESPN let ABC have some of their better games they could easily get some high viewership games. FOX was hurt a lot this year by Villanova not doing well. I know FOX has had their share of Big Ten games though and FOX had only two Big Ten games of 1.5 million or more while CBS had five (not counting UNC-OSU). All five of CBS's top games aired Sunday afternoons. FOX did air Illinois/Purdue last Sunday afternoon at 12:30pm and it lost to Houston-Memphis on CBS. FOX needs to better with college basketball and "Primetime Hoops" isn't it.

Thanks. I was wondering how the HOU-Mem game turned out.

(03-07-2023 04:28 PM)schmolik Wrote:  The Pac 12 couldn't get viewers in men's basketball this year. Only two games involving a Pac 12 team got more than 1.5 million, one involved Kentucky and the other aired after an NFL game. Last Saturday the two clear cut best teams in the conference, Arizona at UCLA, played. They got 800 THOUSAND. Of course that's what you get airing at 10pm ET. They got slightly better ratings earlier on CBS, Stanford at Oregon, got 1.018M at 4:30pm. But compare to 1.841M for the Kentucky-Arkansas before that. The earlier UCLA at Arizona game aired on ABC at 2pm ET and got 911 thousand, it lost to both Texas A&M-Kentucky on ESPN and Iowa-Ohio State on FOX airing around the same time as well as TCU-Kansas that started at 1pm that day.

Speaking of can't get viewers, the MVC. 876K. This is taking up a prime Sunday afternoon slot on CBS? Houston at Memphis was the lead in and got 1.213M. I know in the next Big Ten contract CBS is supposed to air the Big Ten women's basketball championship. Something is going to be bumped on Sunday to make room for it. Of course Houston won't be in the AAC next year so maybe it will be them.

FOX aired only two games with viewership over 1.5 million. CBS aired ten. ABC aired zero. If ESPN let ABC have some of their better games they could easily get some high viewership games. FOX was hurt a lot this year by Villanova not doing well. I know FOX has had their share of Big Ten games though and FOX had only two Big Ten games of 1.5 million or more while CBS had five (not counting UNC-OSU). All five of CBS's top games aired Sunday afternoons. FOX did air Illinois/Purdue last Sunday afternoon at 12:30pm and it lost to Houston-Memphis on CBS. FOX needs to better with college basketball and "Primetime Hoops" isn't it.

You can’t use a Kentucky game vs anyone in The SEC against any game in The PAC ( or The Big 12 or The Big Ten for that matter). Only a few ACC teams draw eyeballs like UK.

That’s an apple an oranges comparison. Kentucky fans are going to tune in no matter who they’re playing. There’s little else to do here in January and February except watch basketball. Contrast that with the West Coast lifestyle The PAC is always going to draw fewer fans.

There’s simply more to do than watch college basketball in California and Arizona in the winter time.

Interesting data.

So, putting aside the anomaly of the DePaul-Creighton game getting its number because of people not switching the channel after an NFL game, (a) every game with 2 million or more viewers was a North Carolina-Duke game or involved one or both of Michigan State and Indiana, and (b) every game with 1.5 million or more had at least one of the following teams: UNC, Duke, Michigan State, Indiana, Michigan, UCLA, Kansas, and/or Kentucky.

Essentially, they’re all acknowledged basketball blue bloods plus Michigan. College basketball ratings are arguably even more top heavy with the elite brands than college football.

Excluding the DePaul/Creighton anomaly, not a single Big East game. Interesting.

I would be interested to see how this season’s regular season ratings compare to previous seasons and what the overall viewership trends are.

(03-07-2023 06:17 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  I would be interested to see how this season’s regular season ratings compare to previous seasons and what the overall viewership trends are.

Well here's 2021-22.
https://csnbbs.com/thread-935699.html

The 1.5M games:

North Carolina at Duke, Sat. 3/5, 6pm, ESPN, 3.98M
Gonzaga vs. Duke at Las Vegas, Fri. 11/26, 10:30pm, ESPN, 2.793M
Kentucky at Auburn, Sat. 1/22, 1pm, CBS, 2.483M
Kentucky at Arkansas, Sat. 2/26, 2pm, CBS, 2.361M
Ohio State at Purdue, Sun. 1/30, noon, CBS, 2.277M
Duke at North Carolina, Sat. 2/5, 6pm, ESPN, 2.188M
Kentucky at Kansas, Sat. 1/29, Big 12/SEC Challenge, 6pm, ESPN, 2.174M
Georgetown at. St. John's, Sun. 1/9, 4:30pm, FOX, 2.018M

Texas at Kansas, Sat. 3/5, 4pm, ESPN, 1.913M
Michigan at Michigan State, Sat. 1/29, 12:30pm, CBS, 1.842M
Kentucky vs. Duke, Champions Classic, Tue. 11/9, 9:30pm, ESPN, 1.782M
Kentucky vs. North Carolina, CBS Sports Classic, Sat. 12/18, 5:30pm. CBS, 1.781M
Kentucky at Alabama, Sat. 2/5, 8pm, ESPN, 1.694M
Kentucky at Florida, Sat. 3/5, 2pm, CBS, 1.662M
Ohio State at Maryland, Sun. 2/27, 4pm, CBS, 1.613M
Michigan at Ohio State, Sun. 3/6, 12:30pm, FOX, 1.602M
Illinois at Michigan, Sun. 2/27, 2pm, CBS, 1.591M
Michigan at Wisconsin, Sun. 2/20, 1pm, CBS, 1.588M
Gonzaga vs. UCLA at Las Vegas, Tue. 11/23, 10pm, ESPN, 1.583M
Kansas at Baylor, Sat. 2/26, 8pm, ESPN, 1.561M
West Virginia at Kansas, Sat. 1/8, 2pm, CBS, 1.548M
Baylor at Alabama, Sat. 1/29, Big 12/SEC Challenge, 4pm, ESPN, 1.525M
Kansas vs. Michigan State, Champions Classic, Tue. 11/9, 7pm, ESPN, 1.517M

Mostly the same.

Here's 2022 conference tournament #'s:

Conference Tournaments:

Big Ten Final: Iowa vs. Purdue, Sun. 3/13, 3:30pm, CBS, 3.585M
Big Ten SF: Michigan State vs. Purdue, Sat. 3/12, 3:30pm, CBS, 3.088M
ACC Final: Duke vs. Virginia Tech, Sat. 3/12, 8:30pm, ESPN, 3.055M
Big Ten SF: Indiana vs. Iowa, Sat. 3/12, 1pm. CBS, 2.799M
SEC SF: Kentucky vs. Tennessee, Sat, 3:30pm, ESPN, 2.514M
Big 12 Final: Kansas vs. Texas Tech, Sat. 3/12, 6pm, ESPN, 2.484M

ACC SF: Duke vs. Miami, Fri. 3/11, 7pm, ESPN, 1.862M
SEC F: Texas A&M vs. Tennessee, Sun. 3/13, 1pm, ESPN, 1.792M
SEC SF: Texas A&M vs. Arkansas, Sat. 3/12, 1pm, ESPN, 1.689M
MWC Final: San Diego State vs. Boise State, Sat. 3/12, 6pm, CBS, 1.538M

A-10 Final: Davidson vs. Richmond, Sun. 3/13, 1pm, CBS, 1.322M
Pac-12 Final: Arizona vs. UCLA, Sat. 3/12, 9pm, FOX, 1.303M
ACC SF: North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech, Fri. 3/11, 9:30pm, ESPN, 1.277M
Big East Final: Creighton vs. Villanova, Sat. 3/12, 6:30pm, FOX, 1.221M
SEC QF: Arkansas vs. LSU, Fri. 3/11, 2:30pm, 1.219M
AAC Final: Houston vs. Memphis, 3pm, 1.2M
ACC QF: North Carolina vs. Virginia, Thur. 3/10, 9:30pm, 1.128M
WCC Final: Gonzaga vs. St. Mary's, Tue. 3/8, 9pm, 1.074M
MVC Final: Loyola vs. Drake, Sun. 3/6, 2pm, CBS, 1.030M

2023 Conference Tournament Story via Sports Media Watch:

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2023/03...n-cbs-fox/

Big Ten Final: Purdue vs. Penn State, Sun. 3/12, 3:30pm, CBS, 3.177M
Big Ten SF: Indiana vs. Penn State, Sat. 3/11, 3:30pm, CBS, 2.805M
ACC Final: Duke vs. Virginia, Sat. 3/11, 8:30pm, ESPN, 2.697M
Big Ten SF: Purdue vs. Ohio State, Sat. 3/ 11, 1pm, CBS, 2.541M
Big 12 Final: Kansas vs. Texas, Sat. 3/11, 6pm, ESPN, 2.485M

SEC Final: Alabama vs. Texas A&M, Sun. 3/12, 1pm, ESPN, 1.949M
AAC Final: Houston vs. Memphis, Sun. 3/12, 3:30pm, ESPN, 1.68M
MWC Final: San Diego State vs. Utah State, Sat. 3/11, 6pm, CBS, 1.658M
Pac 12 Final: UCLA vs. Arizona, Sat. 3/11, 10:30pm, ESPN, 1.57M
ACC 2nd: Virginia vs. North Carolina, Thur. 3/9, 7pm, ESPN, 1.512M
SEC SF: Alabama vs Missouri, Sat. 3/11, 1pm, ESPN, 1.511M

Some Finals Below 1.5M:
A-10 F: VCU vs. Dayton, Sun. 3/12, 1pm, CBS, 1.394M
Big East F: Marquette vs. Xavier, Sat. 3/11, 6:30pm, FOX, 980K
MVC F: Bradley vs. Drake, Sun. 3/5, 2pm, CBS, 876K
WCC F: Gonzaga vs. St. Mary's, Tue. 3/7, 9pm, ESPN, 869K

FOX has to do something when it comes to the Big East. It's one thing to lose head to head to the Big 12 but to get destroyed head to head by the MOUNTAIN WEST?????

Meanwhile the Big Ten controls everything when one of their SEMIFINALS outdraws every other conference final, including an ACC final featuring Duke and a Big 12 final featuring Kansas. The SEC isn't nearly as popular without Kentucky. The Big 10 is so popular that people stay to watch the Mountain West!

"Duke’s win edged the competing Bucks-Warriors NBA game on ABC in viewership (2.70 to 2.65M) and the key young adult demographics of 18-49 (0.74 to 0.59), 18-34 (0.50 to 0.40) and 25-54 (0.90 to 0.74), though the NBA did have a higher household rating (1.5 to 1.4)."

There's no way ABC will bump the NBA a week for the ACC final but why not as a lead in for Saturday Primetime? Or air the ACC final in the afternoon? Or on Sunday afternoon? An ACC final on ABC should outdraw a Big Ten final on CBS, especially if Duke and/or North Carolina is in it.

Dayton vs VCU outdrew Xavier vs Marquette... and a 1PM vs a 6:30PM start at that. I've been trying to tell people... Xavier has about 10,000 fans total. They are the ones who show up to every game at the Cintas Center. After that they really don't have a fan base. Dayton and VCU both have much bigger fan bases.

I've told this story before, but I had a sales guy for Clear Channel (now I Heart Media) tell me that they couldn't sell advertising on the radio for Xavier home games because nobody listened. They were all at the game. Their ratings aren't good in general, but were no existent for home games because their fan base just is lacking in general. The Big East would have been better off with Dayton for TV ratings. They went with X because X has been on a 30 year fantastic run.

(03-15-2023 08:10 AM)mlb Wrote:  Dayton vs VCU outdrew Xavier vs Marquette... and a 1PM vs a 6:30PM start at that. I've been trying to tell people... Xavier has about 10,000 fans total. They are the ones who show up to every game at the Cintas Center. After that they really don't have a fan base. Dayton and VCU both have much bigger fan bases.

I've told this story before, but I had a sales guy for Clear Channel (now I Heart Media) tell me that they couldn't sell advertising on the radio for Xavier home games because nobody listened. They were all at the game. Their ratings aren't good in general, but were no existent for home games because their fan base just is lacking in general. The Big East would have been better off with Dayton for TV ratings. They went with X because X has been on a 30 year fantastic run.

A10 title game against a lot easier competition in the SEC title game than BE with the Big 12 title game. And BE also had the MWC going up against it.

Also the fact that it was 39-24 at halftime had something to do with it. A10 was close thruout.

Disappointing number for BE Championship. At least every game at MSG was a sellout again. I have no doubt if UConn beat us in the semis, that number is easily over a million.

This also, I believe, was first BET Championship that featured two Midwest teams. Great long-term growth of league, but probably not best in near-term.

Great numbers for A10 and MWC.

Does the MWC Final do anything for SDSU in terms of Pac-12/Big 12 interest?

(03-07-2023 06:00 PM)Owls9878 Wrote:  Excluding the DePaul/Creighton anomaly, not a single Big East game. Interesting.

Not really. Villanova is down this year and the league's three largest TV markets (New York, Chicago, Washington DC) feature its three worst teams.

Can't sell Georgetown on a good day at 7-25.