CBS Sports and Turner Sports’ exclusive second round coverage of the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV on Thursday, March 21, averaged an overnight household rating/share of 5.8/14, the highest rating for the first Thursday of the NCAA Tournament in 22 years.  The 5.8/14 is up 4% compared with a 5.6/13 in 2012.

Thursday’s coverage showed significant audience increases in three of the four telecast windows, including several record setters.                               

•  The first daytime telecast window (12-4:15 p.m. ET) averaged a 4.1/14 to deliver the second highest rating for the time slot since 1991, when the tournament expanded to four telecast windows for the entire day (trailing only 2011’s 4.4/15).  The telecast window is up 5% compared with a 3.9/13 last year.

•  The second daytime telecast window (2:30-7:15 p.m.) averaged a 5.5/15 to garner the highest rating ever for the time slot.  The window is up 6% over last year’s 5.2/14.

•  The first primetime telecast window (7-10:15 p.m.) averaged a 7.4/14 to register the highest rating ever for the time slot.  The window is up 9% over a 6.8/13 in 2012.

•  The second primetime window (9:30 p.m.-12:45 a.m.) averaged a 6.4/11, which included a pair of lopsided victories (VCU’s 46-point win vs. Akron and Syracuse’s 47-point triumph vs. Montana), vs. a 6.8/12 in 2012.

Tournament to date, including the NCAA First Four, the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship is averaging a 5.2/12, up 2% compared with a 5.1/12 at this same time last year. 

For the third consecutive year, Turner Sports and CBS Sports are providing exclusive live coverage of all 67 games from the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across the four national television networks. 

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Source:  Nielsen Media Research, based on Metered Market data, Live +SD data stream.  3/19/13 to  03/21/13 vs. 03/13/12 to 03/15/12.  2013 averages based on weighted average of 4 telecast gross across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.  Historical audiences, CBS 1991 through 2005 based on Live data.  2006 through 2010 based on Live + SD.  2003 based on CBS / ESPN average of First Round. 

Media Contacts:

Sal Petruzzi, Turner Sports, at (212) 275-6897 or sal.petruzzi@turner.com 

Nate Smeltz, Turner Sports, at (404) 827-4786 or nate.smeltz@turner.com

Jen Sabatelle, CBS Sports, at (212) 975-4120 or jsabatelle@cbs.com

Dan Sabreen, CBS Sports, at (212) 975-5936 or dsabreen@cbs.com