The 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship continues to deliver record-setting audience totals across all multimedia platforms. Turner Sports and CBS Sports’ exclusive third round coverage on Saturday, March 21, generated the all-time highest rating for the first Saturday of the NCAA Tournament (since the tournament expanded to four telecast windows for the entire day in 1991). Saturday’s games averaged a 7.4/17 overnight rating/share, up 14% compared to a 6.5/14 in 2014, according to Nielsen metered market ratings.
The NCAA Tournament to date across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV is averaging a 6.5/14 overnight rating/share, the highest-ever rating for the event through the first Saturday (in the current television format).
NCAA March Madness Live has also delivered a record-setting 47 million live video streams through Saturday, a 7% increase over last year.
Saturday’s television coverage generated several all-time records and significant audience growth.
The second daytime telecast window (2:45-5:15 p.m.) averaged a 6.7/16 to garner the highest rating for the game window since 2007. The telecast window is up 29% compared with a 5.2/12 in 2014.
The first primetime telecast window (5:15-9:45 p.m.) averaged a 10.3/23 to register the highest rating for the game window of all time (in the current television format). The telecast window is up 20% over an 8.6/19 in 2014.
The second primetime window (7:45 p.m.-12:30 a.m.) averaged an 8.9/17 to tie 1993 as the highest rating for the game window of all time (in the current television format). It marked a 9% increase over the same telecast window last year (8.2/15).
Additionally, the NCAA Tournament has grossed a record 82 million total social impressions across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram through Saturday for a 35% increase over 2014.
