Thursday's Sweet 16 TV ratings down on CBS, up on TBS

The men’s Final Four is set, but the viewership numbers from the second weekend of the NCAA tournament are starting to be released.

After the first weekend of the tournament averaged 9.04 million viewers through the second round — down from 9.12 million last year — CBS saw a notable drop in its Sweet 16 games Thursday night.

Overall, the four games Thursday night combined for 10.11 million viewers. A year ago, the same windows combined for 10.59 million, roughly a 5 percent decline. Last year’s games also included a few more recognizable brands, including Duke, Villanova and Michigan.

Kansas State‘s overtime win over Michigan State in the Sweet 16 drew in 5.92 million viewers on TBS, according to Nielsen estimates. Markquis Nowell‘s 20 point and 19 assist performance definitely helped, as the early primetime game on TBS was up 88 percent from last year’s Villanova-Michigan matchup that brought in 3.15 million viewers.

The CBS game in the same window disappointed, though. UConn‘s 88-65 blowout win over Arkansas averaged 4.26 million. That’s down nearly 50 percent from last year’s Arkansas-Gonzaga game. It also marked a 10% decline year-over-year.

It was a similar story in the late-night window. While Gonzaga’s win over UCLA drew in 6.13 million on CBS, it was still down from Duke’s 78-73 win over Texas Tech a year ago which finished with 8.23 million viewers. Florida Atlantic‘s upset of Tennessee was a win on TBS, averaging 3.97 million. The same Sweet 16 window in 2022 finished with just 2.36 million.

What Final Four matchups mean for TV

While this year’s edition of March Madness has provided an exciting two weekends of play, the Final Four is not filled with big-time brands. There is a reason Florida Atlantic and San Diego State are playing in the early game Saturday.

CBS is hoping that UConn and Miami can help out in the late window. Some experts are already forecasting the Saturday’s first game to draw an all-time low in terms of broadcast TV viewership. In terms of the national title game, either a No. 5 seed or a No. 9 seed will be trying to win championship which could help.

For reference, last year’s NCAA title game between Kansas and North Carolina delivered an average 18.1 million viewers, which is the most-viewed men’s championship ever on cable TV according to the NCAA. The UNC-Duke Final Four matchup is the second-most watched college basketball game with an average of 18.5 million viewers.