NCAA men's title game audience up despite move from broadcast to cable

Key Points:

• Monday’s NCAA men’s basketball national championship between Michigan and UConn averaged 18.3 million viewers across cable and streaming platforms, marking the most-watched title game since 2019 despite a slight 4% drop in ratings from last year.
• The game’s viewership increased 1% over last year’s CBS broadcast, continuing a recent trend of cable-exclusive championships maintaining or growing audiences, although Nielsen’s updated measurement methodology likely contributed to this increase.
• The national semifinals on TNT Sports networks averaged 14.2 million viewers, down 8% from last year’s CBS broadcast but up 11% from the previous cable-exclusive semifinals in 2024.
• CBS parent Paramount is seeking approval to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, potentially combining CBS Sports and TNT Sports, which currently holds rights to future NCAA Final Fours and championships through 2032.
• The full NCAA men’s basketball tournament averaged 10.9 million viewers across all networks, a 7% increase from last year and the second-highest average since 1994, though changes in Nielsen’s viewing data methodology complicate direct historical comparisons.