NEW YORK (AP) — The NCAA tournament’s new television format has drawn more viewers to the first weekend of March Madness.
The games spread across four networks have averaged 8.4 million viewers so far. That’s up 14 percent from last year, when games were only on CBS.
The NCAA’s 14-year, $10.8 billion deal with CBS and Turner means each game is televised nationally in its entirety on CBS, TNT, TBS or truTV. In the past, broadcasts on CBS were regionalized, and the network would switch among games.