NEW YORK (AP) — The NCAA championship game earned its highest television rating since 2005.
Duke’s 61-59 win over Butler on Monday night on CBS earned a 14.2 fast national rating and 23 share. That’s up 31 percent from the 10.8/18 for North Carolina’s blowout against Michigan State last year.
It’s the best rating since a 15.0/23 for North Carolina-Illinois in 2005. More than 48 million viewers watched at least some of the game, the most since 50 million tuned in for Arizona-Kentucky in 1997 when the population was smaller.
The entire tournament averaged a 6.0 rating, up 5 percent from last season.
Ratings represent the percentage of all households with televisions. Shares represent the percentage of all homes with TVs in use at the time.
