For the first time, the NCAA women’s basketball championship dominated the men.
UConn’s 75-60 victory over Purdue in Monday night’s men’s final on TBS and TNT averaged 14.82 million, according to Nielsen. That wasn’t enough to top the 18.87 million people who watched South Carolina defeat Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the women’s final Sunday afternoon on ABC and ESPN.
Monday night’s viewership represented a 4 percent increase from last year’s finale between the Huskies and San Diego State on CBS. The number likely dwindled in the second half as UConn took control to become the first repeat champion since Florida in 2007.
The two men’s semi-finals averaged 12.8 million. UConn-Alabama drew 14.18 million and the game between Purdue and North Carolina State averaged 11.45 million. Friday night’s women’s semifinals averaged 10.8 million, the Iowa-UConn game averaged 14.2 million.
The 67 games of the men’s tournament broadcast on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV averaged 9.9 million viewers, an increase of 3% from last year. This year’s tournament benefited from more blue blood and power conference programming beyond the first weekend.
The Huskies once again demonstrated their dominance in March Madness, triumphing over the Boilermakers 75-60 to once again capture the men’s national championship title.
NBC Chicago
