Championship ratings-worst ever

[Devland]

Report: UM-Villanova game a ratings disaster

 

[Fishy]

Being on cable wasn’t great for ratings. Starting at 9:30 on the east coast isn’t great for ratings.

And having a small school like Villanova playing a school without much of a basketball reputation didn’t help.

The casual fan was not interested.

 

[Ewekon]

Well put it on CBS or espn. Duh.

 

[Hoophound]

I didn’t watch it. Wasn’t interested at all.

 

[Jarhead_1775]

I only cared about the final score.

 

[Matrim55]

Being on cable wasn’t great for ratings. Starting at 9:30 on the east coast isn’t great for ratings.

And having a small school like Villanova playing a school without much of a basketball reputation didn’t help.

The casual fan was not interested.

And only one potential lottery pick who's purely a 3-and-D guy.

Too bad, though – it was very good basketball.

 

[Travelman6]

Do ratings account for streaming? Tons of people stream these days....

 

[3rdbass]

It was a great game and I'm glad Villanova played well. It was the coming out party of Big Ragu(DD) and that was super fun to watch him dominate on both sides of the ball.

 

[huskyrob1]

Being on cable wasn’t great for ratings. Starting at 9:30 on the east coast isn’t great for ratings.

And having a small school like Villanova playing a school without much of a basketball reputation didn’t help.

The casual fan was not interested.

Ratings will pickup once Hurley gets UConn rolling again.




1999 National Championship - Duke vs Connecticut

 

[UConnSwag11]

Well put it on CBS or espn. Duh.

Yeah, why put it on tbs?

 

[Edward Sargent]

Being on cable wasn’t great for ratings. Starting at 9:30 on the east coast isn’t great for ratings.

And having a small school like Villanova playing a school without much of a basketball reputation didn’t help.

The casual fan was not interested.

What was the reasoning for putting it on TBS? That was good when there were multiple games but the Final Four?

 

[Devland]

Yeah, why put it on tbs?

My guess is TBS was willing to pay the most money. I may be wrong but I believe the UConn-Kentucky NC game was the first on TBS.

 

[pepband99]

My guess is TBS was willing to pay the most money. I may be wrong but I believe the UConn-Kentucky NC game was the first on TBS.

TBS is part of the same contract - nothing to do with $ per channel.

2 reasons this happened:

1) Propping up TBS as it's increasingly a no name cable channel
2) Sticking it to cord cutters who would have gotten this for free off of CBS

 

[whaler11]

Reason is simple

NCAA will now make $1 billion from TV rights

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Reason is simple

NCAA will now make $1 billion from TV rights

Yep. Create demand for a channel that can't get it otherwise. As bad as the ratings were, you can guarantee it was the best ratings TBS has gotten all year. Same thing happens with the college football championship on ESPN. More people would watch it if it was on ABC, but 25 million pairs of eyes on ESPN are worth more to Disney than 35 million on ABC

 

[gtcam]

Being on cable wasn’t great for ratings. Starting at 9:30 on the east coast isn’t great for ratings.

And having a small school like Villanova playing a school without much of a basketball reputation didn’t help.

The casual fan was not interested.

UM has a bit more of a basketball reputation than you give them credit
They had the Fab 4 years where they were in the final 4 three times
Recently, since 2010, they have been to tourney 6 times, title game loser in 2013, elite eight in 2014 and sweet 16 2017

But I agree being on cable is ridiculous and the starting time is insipid.

 

[Guapo]

It's because it was on cable and between a small school and a football school.

Pure and simple.

 

[KemBaller]

Surprised nobody has listed off the game not looking very competitive on paper/Nova being a heavy favorite. Ratings would probably have been better if the Loyola story played out until the finals.

 

[Madmannsucks]

TV ratings have changed over the years. Compare the ratings for the final M A S H vs Seinfeld finale.
106 million vs 76.
There are so many more options today. If you missed a program, you missed it. The game will end up being replayed over and over again.
No one would think of recording an event vs today, people post on FB..."don't tell me the score".
Add to that, cord cutters and the numbers are not unexpected.

 

[BlueandOG]

BOR-ING! There is no spark in watching Nova-Michigan. I'd rather scroll through the critically acclaimed movie list on Netflix.

 

[Shabazzkets]

Being on cable wasn’t great for ratings. Starting at 9:30 on the east coast isn’t great for ratings.

And having a small school like Villanova playing a school without much of a basketball reputation didn’t help.

The casual fan was not interested.

Michigan has been to more Final 4s than UConn, revolutionized the sport with the Fab 5, and has been a mainstay in the tournament over the past decade -- include two Final 4 trips and multiple Sweet 16 and Elite 8s. They have one of the biggest fan bases in the country and play in one of the premier conferences in the country. I think you underrate Michigan's reputation and appeal. While it's true they have only one title, not every program is as fortunate as UConn's. 4 titles in 5 Final 4s has to be the best hit rate in NCAA history, no?

I think the expectation that Nova would dominate Michigan depressed ratings, in addition to the game starting so late, being on TBS, etc. The lack of NBA superstars on either team hurt too -- if Trae Young was in that game, as an example, more TV sets would have tuned in. (Although I really question Trae Young's NBA prospects, that's another topic).

 

[browndog319]

Completely pointless but really funny: Philly local news is terrible and they were losing their minds all weekend.

Before the game, they had some local reporter in San Antonio who said “Right now, I’m in front of the Alamo!”

She was in front of some random house. Like a ranch house. So NOT the Alamo.

I feel like some camera guy felt like messing with her. It made me laugh so hard!

The local news hasn’t shut up - all the stuff about first the Eagles, now this!!!

 

[Fishy]

Michigan doesn’t move the needle as a basketball school.

It’s not that hard to understand.

 

[White Dwarf]

I tapped out after the Sister Jean loss.

 

[Guapo]

Michigan has been to more Final 4s than UConn, revolutionized the sport with the Fab 5, and has been a mainstay in the tournament over the past decade -- include two Final 4 trips and multiple Sweet 16 and Elite 8s. They have one of the biggest fan bases in the country and play in one of the premier conferences in the country. I think you underrate Michigan's reputation and appeal. While it's true they have only one title, not every program is as fortunate as UConn's. 4 titles in 5 Final 4s has to be the best hit rate in NCAA history, no?

I think the expectation that Nova would dominate Michigan depressed ratings, in addition to the game starting so late, being on TBS, etc. The lack of NBA superstars on either team hurt too -- if Trae Young was in that game, as an example, more TV sets would have tuned in. (Although I really question Trae Young's NBA prospects, that's another topic).

"Spot the Michigan fan" is the easiest game to play in college sports.