College basketball national title game ratings improved from 2016, but down from 2015
The ratings for this year’s NCAA men’s basketball national title game between Gonzaga and North Carolina were a significant improvement from 2016’s title game, but a drop from 2015’s championship contest. There’s a clear reason why.
After the Final Four ratings showed some promise for the future of live sports on television, this year’s national title game ratings should put a damper on that excitement for CBS, the NCAA and Turner.
This year’s championship tilt between Gonzaga and North Carolina drew a 7.1 rating, amassing 23 million viewers at its peak. The viewership grew by nearly a third as compared to 2016. Much of this spike can be attributed to the fact that in 2016, the title game was shown on TBS. TBS is not available via broadcast as CBS is, but rather only via a cable/satellite subscription.
A more accurate comparison for this year’s contest is the last title game on CBS, which was the 2015 contest between Duke and Wisconsin. That game drew 28 million viewers at its peak, which was an 18-year high for the game on any network. While it could be argued that comparing this year’s game to what could be called an outlier won’t allow for an accurate analysis, using the most recent example as a comparison makes sense because population demographics are going to be much more similar in 2015 as compared to now than in previous years.
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This year’s title game lacking brand power can’t be blamed for the dip from 2015. North Carolina is one of college basketball’s most prominent franchises and Gonzaga is a perennial tournament power. To identify a primary reason, social trends in consuming live sports on television should be pointed out.
Television itself is suffering as a whole. Nielsen has put out a report for the second consecutive year that shows not only are people watching less television, but more people are consuming the television shows that they do watch in formats other than live programming.
Add that to the fact that as time passes, fewer people are watching games in their entirety. The latest trends are to consume sports media on mobile devices. Audiences are looking for more moments from games instead of games themselves.
That 2015 viewership high may stand as the high for years to come, as more and more people would rather watch a highlight reel on Twitter than an entire game on television. Next year’s title game will be on TBS again, so expect a drop in ratings simply because of that. If these trends continue, the drop could be sharp.