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NCAA men’s basketball championship game draws record-low viewership
The Industry Apr 12, 2023
Analog TV antenna. | Photo courtesy of Petr Kratochvil/PublicDomainPictures.net (CC0)
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By Steven Herbert
The NCAA men’s basketball final drew record-low viewership, but was the most-watched basketball game since last year’s championship, according to live-plus-same-day figures released by Nielsen on Tuesday.
CBS’ coverage of Connecticut’s 76-59 victory over San Diego State averaged 14.694 million viewers. The previous low was 16.5 million for Villanova’s 79-62 victory over Michigan in the 2018 final, which averaged a combined 16 million on TBS, TNT and truTV. Records date back to 1975.
The previous CBS low was 16.922 million for Baylor’s 86-70 victory over Gonzaga in the 2021 final.
The game annually alternates between CBS and Turner Sports. The tournament was not played in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Viewership for nearly all forms of programming has decreased in recent years as the growth of streaming services increases viewers’ choices.
The most-watched nonsports prime-time program between April 3 and Sunday was “60 Minutes,” which averaged 14.694 million viewers, second for the week.
The CBS news magazine followed a 48-minute runover of the network’s coverage of golf’s Masters Tournament in the Eastern and Central time zones, where the bulk of the nation’s population lives. The runover averaged 13.03 million viewers. The overrun is not considered a separate program but is included in the weekly average.
CBS had eight of the week’s 11 most-watched television programs to finish first for the fourth consecutive week, seventh time in eight weeks and ninth time in 11 weeks, averaging 5.61 million viewers.
The only times CBS has not finished first in the past 11 weeks were the weeks of Feb. 6-13, when Fox aired Super Bowl LVII, and March 6-12, when ABC aired the Oscars.
NBC was second for the fourth consecutive week, averaging 3.4 million viewers. “Chicago Fire” was its most-watched program for the third consecutive week, averaging 6.772 million viewers to finish third after back-to-back fifth-place finishes.
ABC was third among the broadcast networks for the third consecutive week, averaging 2.85 million viewers. “American Idol” was ABC’s most-watched program for the seventh time in the eight weeks it has aired this season, with the Sunday edition averaging 4.579 million viewers to finish 17th. The only interruption to the streak was the week that ABC aired the Oscars.
CBS, NBC and ABC each aired 22 hours of prime-time programming.
Fox averaged 2.23 million viewers for its 15 hours, 20 minutes of programming. “The Masked Singer” was its most-watched program for the second consecutive week, finishing 26th, averaging 3.69 million viewers.
The CW averaged 380,000 viewers for its 14 hours of programming. The superhero drama “Superman & Lois” was its most-watched program for the third time in the four weeks it has aired this season, averaging 703,000 viewers, 139th among broadcast programs. Its overall ranking was not available.
The 20 most-watched prime-time television programs consisted of the NCAA men’s basketball final and 42-minute pregame show; six CBS scripted programs, its news magazine “60 Minutes,” the two-hour special “A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys,” that followed “60 Minutes” and the alternative series “Survivor”; five NBC scripted programs and the Monday edition of its singing competition “The Voice”; the April 4 edition of the Fox News Channel political talk show “Tucker Carlson Tonight”; and the two editions of the ABC singing competition, “American Idol.”
“Tucker Carlson Tonight” accounted for five of the six most-watched prime-time cable programs, topped by last Tuesday’s edition, coinciding with the date former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsification of business records, and averaged 6.462 million viewers, sixth for the week in viewership.
Fox News Channel was the most-watched cable network for the second consecutive week and 10th time in 11 weeks, averaging 2.301 million viewers. MSNBC was second, averaging 1.454 million and HGTV third, averaging 885,000.
The cable prime-time top 20 consisted of 11 Fox News Channel weeknight political talk shows (five broadcasts each of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and “Hannity” and one of “The Ingraham Angle”); three special reports on Trump’s court appearance — two on MSNBC and one on CNN; two MSNBC weeknight political talk shows (the April 3 edition of “The Rachel Maddow Show” and the Tuesday edition of “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell”); History’s long- running chronicle of a search for treasure on a Canadian island, “The Curse of Oak Island”; and all three hourlong segments of the USA Network professional wrestling show, “WWE Raw.”
“The Night Agent” was Netflix’s most-watched title for the third consecutive week, with viewers watching the 10-episode action thriller for 130.48 million hours in the second full week it was available, increasing its total since release to 515.57 million hours, ninth on the all-time list, which is based on viewership during the first 28 days of release.
“Murder Mystery 2” was Netflix’s most-watched movie for the second consecutive week, with viewers spending 59.84 million hours watching the Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston-starring action-mystery-comedy in the first full week it was available. Viewership was down 7.4% from the 64.62 million hours the previous week when it was available for three days.
The most-watched Spanish-language program was last Tuesday’s premiere of the Univision telenovela “El Amor Invencible,” which averaged 1.653 million viewers, 67th among broadcast programs. Its overall ranking was not available.
Univision was the most-watched Spanish-language network for the 35th consecutive week and 173rd time in 175 weeks, averaging 1.18 million viewers. Telemundo was second, averaging 970,000 viewers, followed by UniMas (350,000) and Estrella TV (80,000).
ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” was the most-watched nightly newscast for 174th time in 175 weeks and 226th time in 228 weeks, averaging 7.754 million viewers.
“NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” was second, averaging 6.52 million viewers. The “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell” was third, averaging 4.649 million viewers.
The week’s 10 most-watched prime-time television programs were CBS’ coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball final; CBS’ “60 Minutes”; NBC’s “Chicago Fire”; CBS “FBI” and “FBI: International”; last Tuesday’s edition of the Fox News Channel political talk show “Tucker Carlson Tonight”; NBC’s “Chicago Med”; and CBS’ “Blue Bloods,” “Fire Country” and “FBI: Most Wanted.”
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