The BYU basketball team wasn't successful on Thursday night — falling to Florida in overtime — but CBS and TBS continue to have great success in the ratings with the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Here's the latest release from CBS:
CBS SPORTS' AND TURNER SPORTS' EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF THE 2011 NCAA DIVISION I MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP DELIVERS HIGHEST OVERALL TOURAMENT RATINGS IN 18 YEARS
Thursday's Regional Semi-Finals Score Best Ratings In 18 Years, Up +28% Over 2010
CBS Sports' and Turner Sports' exclusive live coverage of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV combined to deliver the best overall tournament-to-date average ratings in the metered markets in 18 years (1993). The overall tournament average-to-date, including the FIRST FOUR®, in the metered markets is a 6.5/14, up +18% from a 5.5/12 for CBS Sports' 2010 coverage according to Nielsen.
Coverage of the regional semi-finals on TBS and CBS on Thursday, March 24 combined to deliver an overnight household rating/share of 8.6/14, up +28% from a 6.7/12 for CBS Sports' 2010 coverage, according to Nielsen.
The 8.6/14 was the highest rating for the Thursday regional semi-finals in the metered markets since a 9.0/16 in 1993.
The first telecast window of the night combined to earn an 8.5/14, up +37% from a 6.2/11 last year.
The second window of the night delivered an 8.7/15, up +21% from a 7.2/13 last year.
