Ratings Roundup: CBS/Turner March Madness Is Most Watched in 24 Years; WBC Delivers Record Ratings for MLBN

Ratings roundup is a rundown of ratings news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, CBS and Turner are seeing the most-watched NCAA Tournament in 24 years, while MLB Network is garnering record audiences for Team USA’s World Baseball Classic run. 

March Madness Hits 24-Year High
CBS Sports and Turner Sports’ 2017 NCAA Tournament coverage is the most-watched in 24 years through the first Sunday, with an average of 9,325,000 million viewers, up +10% from 2016 (8,513,000). Additionally, NCAA March Madness Live (MML) has generated an all-time record 69.1 million live streams through the first Sunday of the tournament, an increase of +24% over last year.

NCAA Tourney: Through First Sunday
Live game coverage across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV on Sunday, March 19, averaged 11.9 million viewers, up +34% from last year (8.9 million), making it the most-watched first Sunday in 24 years (since 1993).  On Sunday, the networks’ coverage delivered significant increases versus a year ago in all four game telecast windows on Sunday:

• Telecast Window 1 (Noon-2:29 p.m. ET) – 7.3 million viewers, up +38%
• Telecast Window 2 (2:47-5:05 p.m.) –  10.3 million viewers, up +23%
• Telecast Window 3 (5:00-9:25 p.m.) – 18.6 million viewers, up +38%, making it the most-watched for this game window since 1991 when the tournament expanded to its current television format.
• Telecast Window 4 (7:53–11:51 p.m.) – 11.3 million viewers, up +36%, making it the most-watched for this game window since the current television format with four networks debuted in 2011.

NCAA Tourney: First Four and First Thursday
Live game coverage across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV, including the First Four and first Thursday games averaged 7.8 million viewers, up +5% from last year (7.4 million).  The networks’ coverage of the first Thursday averaged 8.2 million viewers, up +4% from last year (7.9 million), registering as the third most-watched first Thursday since 1991.

The NCAA First Four airing on truTV (Tuesday and Wednesday) grossed 5.9 million viewers, up +12% over last year, ranking as the second most-viewed First Four coverage since the format was introduced in 2011.

The combined networks’ coverage delivered increases in three game telecast windows:

• Telecast Window 1 (12:00-4:10 pm) – 5.6 million viewers, up +4% and the second highest viewer average for this window since 1991
• Telecast Window 2 (2:46-6:53 pm) – 7.4 million viewers, up +10% and the third highest viewer average in this window since 1991
• Telecast Window 3 (6:38-9:57 pm) – 10.3 million viewers, up +3% and the fourth highest viewer average in this window since 1993

NCAA Tourney: Streaming and Social
MML has generated an all-time record 69.1 million live streams through the first Sunday of the tournament, an increase of +24% over last year. NCAA Tournament games garnering the most live streams to date, include: Notre Dame vs. Princeton (5.4 million streams); Virginia vs. UNC-Wilmington (4.3 million streams) and Michigan vs. Oklahoma State (4.2 million streams).

Official March Madness social media handles have generated 26 million social engagements across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram through Sunday, which is up +20% over the corresponding time period last year.

World Baseball Classic
In non-March Madness ratings news, Team USA’s win over Team Dominican Republic on Saturday in the World Baseball Classic on MLB Network drew 852,000 viewers on average (according to Nielsen fast nationals), marking MLB Network’s best West Coast primetime game telecast ever. Overall, viewership for the 2017 World Baseball Classic is up 12% over the last tournament in 2013, and MLB Network is on pace to see its most-watched first quarter ever. (Cynopsis Sports)

In addition, the World Baseball Classic first round game between Team USA/Team Dominican Republic on MLB Network on March 11 delivered 977,000 viewers to the channel, marking MLB Network’s most-watched non-Postseason game telecast ever. The program grew 11% over its previous record for a WBC game with Saturday’s game peaking with 1.2 million viewers from 9:45-10:00p. (Cynopsis Sports)