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Unique factors drive fluctuation in Final Four ratings
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The NCAA News
The familiarity of having the University of Florida repeat as the Division I men’s basketball national champions may have helped raise television ratings for the championship game April 2.
The Gators’ 84-75 win drew a 12.1 rating according to Nielsen Media Research. The 13.59 million households tuned into the game is a 9 percent increase over the 12.31 million that watched Florida defeat the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2006. The game was the fifth most-watched prime-time program of the week.
Florida became the first men’s team to win consecutive titles since Duke University in 1991 and 1992. Much like those Duke teams, who regularly made trips to the Men’s Final Four with coach Mike Krzyzewski and all-Americans Christian Laettner, Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley, viewers were well acquainted with the participants.
The Gators’ quest to become only the seventh program to win back-to-back basketball championships with the recognizable cast of coach Billy Donovan and the starting lineup of Corey Brewer, Al Horford, Lee Humphrey, Joakim Noah and Taurean Green apparently was intriguing to fans.
Florida’s opponent, Ohio State University, also may have been a contributing factor to the higher ratings. The Buckeyes were highly ranked all season and received media attention for months due to their highly touted freshman class, which included Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. Also, Big Ten Conference institutions normally provide ratings draws because of their large alumni bases.
For example, in 2005, the championship game between the University of Illinois, Champaign, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, earned a 15.0 rating. Combined with another strong showing from Big Ten rivals Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, which both lost down-to-the-wire games in regional finals, Nielsen estimated 141.7 million viewers watched all or part of the of the 2005 tournament.
In 2007, Nielsen estimates 132.7 million viewers watched all or part of CBS’ coverage of the tournament — a 3 percent increase over 2006.
On the women’s side, the April 3 final between the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, drew a solid 2.3 rating on ESPN, but that was down 25 percent from 2006.
Tennessee defeated Rutgers, 59-46, and the outcome lacked the drama of the 2006 final between the University of Maryland, College Park, and Duke University, in which Maryland rallied from a 13-point deficit before winning in overtime.
The 2006 game, the first women’s final tied at the end of regulation since 1991, drew a 3.1 rating.
Ratings for the this year’s national semifinals were comparable to 2006 drawing a 2.02 cable rating, but those games continue to go head-to-head with Major League Baseball’s season-opening game, which is broadcast on ESPN2. The Division I Women’s Basketball Committee will engage in discussions with ESPN during its upcoming meeting to strategize initiatives to maximize in-venue attendance, broadcast windows and cable ratings.
That type of scenario may not be the case in the future, however. For the past year, the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Enhancement Discussion Group, chaired by NCAA President Myles Brand, has been examining the feasibility of moving the women’s basketball championship back one week to position the event uniquely in the NCAA championship landscape.
Proponents of the possible move say it could enhance the women’s championship by giving it a time frame late enough to be on its own but still clearly within the basketball-season window.
The Gators’ 84-75 win drew a 12.1 rating according to Nielsen Media Research. The 13.59 million households tuned into the game is a 9 percent increase over the 12.31 million that watched Florida defeat the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2006. The game was the fifth most-watched prime-time program of the week.
Florida became the first men’s team to win consecutive titles since Duke University in 1991 and 1992. Much like those Duke teams, who regularly made trips to the Men’s Final Four with coach Mike Krzyzewski and all-Americans Christian Laettner, Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley, viewers were well acquainted with the participants.
The Gators’ quest to become only the seventh program to win back-to-back basketball championships with the recognizable cast of coach Billy Donovan and the starting lineup of Corey Brewer, Al Horford, Lee Humphrey, Joakim Noah and Taurean Green apparently was intriguing to fans.
Florida’s opponent, Ohio State University, also may have been a contributing factor to the higher ratings. The Buckeyes were highly ranked all season and received media attention for months due to their highly touted freshman class, which included Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. Also, Big Ten Conference institutions normally provide ratings draws because of their large alumni bases.
For example, in 2005, the championship game between the University of Illinois, Champaign, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, earned a 15.0 rating. Combined with another strong showing from Big Ten rivals Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, which both lost down-to-the-wire games in regional finals, Nielsen estimated 141.7 million viewers watched all or part of the of the 2005 tournament.
In 2007, Nielsen estimates 132.7 million viewers watched all or part of CBS’ coverage of the tournament — a 3 percent increase over 2006.
On the women’s side, the April 3 final between the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, drew a solid 2.3 rating on ESPN, but that was down 25 percent from 2006.
Tennessee defeated Rutgers, 59-46, and the outcome lacked the drama of the 2006 final between the University of Maryland, College Park, and Duke University, in which Maryland rallied from a 13-point deficit before winning in overtime.
The 2006 game, the first women’s final tied at the end of regulation since 1991, drew a 3.1 rating.
Ratings for the this year’s national semifinals were comparable to 2006 drawing a 2.02 cable rating, but those games continue to go head-to-head with Major League Baseball’s season-opening game, which is broadcast on ESPN2. The Division I Women’s Basketball Committee will engage in discussions with ESPN during its upcoming meeting to strategize initiatives to maximize in-venue attendance, broadcast windows and cable ratings.
That type of scenario may not be the case in the future, however. For the past year, the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Enhancement Discussion Group, chaired by NCAA President Myles Brand, has been examining the feasibility of moving the women’s basketball championship back one week to position the event uniquely in the NCAA championship landscape.
Proponents of the possible move say it could enhance the women’s championship by giving it a time frame late enough to be on its own but still clearly within the basketball-season window.
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