CBS, TNT Sports record highest-rated opening day in NCAA Tournament history
· Yahoo Sports
March Madness is alive and well. Just ask the NCAA Tournament’s television partners.
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According to Nielsen, CBS and TNT Sports set ratings records on Thursday, March 19, the first full day of the tournament.
Ultimately, the 16 Round of 64 games on CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV averaged 9.8 million viewers, up 6 percent from 2025. Also, the prime-time window, led by Michigan-Howard on CBS and North Carolina-VCU on TNT, averaged 12.5 million viewers.
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Both viewership numbers set NCAA Tournament records for an opening day.
The X account March Madness Men’s Basketball TV posted about the ratings on Monday, March 23.
The opening day of the Round of 64 featured several upsets, including No. 12 seed High Point defeating No. 5 seed Wisconsin. Also, No. 11 seed VCU knocked off the No. 6 seed Tar Heels, and No. 11 seed Texas and No. 10 seed Texas A&M pulled off upsets.
Consequently, it will be interesting to see the ratings for the March 20 second day of the Round of 64. That’s because the favorites won all 16 games that day.
North Carolina Tar Heels guard Seth Trimble (7) goes to the basket against VCU Rams forward Lazar Djokovic (17). | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
The recent ratings information also included numbers from the March 17 and 18 First Four games in Dayton, Ohio.
According to ESPN, the four games totaled 7.5 million viewers on truTV. Miami of Ohio’s victory over SMU averaged 2.8 million viewers. That puts the game at the top of First Four ratings for games played in Dayton.
In all, early tournament viewership averaged 9.3 million viewers, up 5 percent from last year.
CBS and TBS/truTV will share coverage of the Sweet 16, which begins March 26.
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