TV Viewership 2024 Regular Season

[BigTenGuy]

Look at the last few ESPN darlings of WBB...Plum, Ionescu, Bueckers and now Catlin and tell me what they all had in common. There were multiple articles almost daily about each one. I'll hang up and wait.

Was Clark more of a media darling her first year than Watkins was this year?

 

[jumpstart]

Was Clark more of a media darling her first year than Watkins was this year?

Good point....but she may be benefitting from it. Clarks first year was during the Plum and Paige years of article domination. ESPN was running with one player each year as long as that player was playing.

 

[cancontent]

Good point....but she may be benefitting from it. Clarks first year was during the Plum and Paige years of article domination. ESPN was running with one player each year as long as that player was playing.

Wasn't Plum in the WNBA by then? I think you meant Ionescu here.

 

[visitingcock]

Was Clark more of a media darling her first year than Watkins was this year?

Clark was overshadowed by Paige their freshman year. Paige was not only freshman of the year but also national POY. yeah, you heard some about Clark but no nearly as much as Paige. Not even close.

In their sophomore year, Boston was the media darling. Clark was staring to come on in the news while Paige was injured but Clark was nowhere near what she would become as a junior.

Junior year, she had a very good year and Paige was almost completely out of the news. She and Boston were running neck in neck until about February, Clark started putting up logo threes under pressure asthe Big Ten. Then she crushed shot after shot including that game winner against Indiana. She was the media the darling. When she took Iowa to the Elite Eight, even a Gamecock like me said "Yeah, she deserves POTY."

When she led her little band of rebels to defeat the Evil Empire in the Final Four she became THE Media Queen.

Stay tuned!

 

[BigTenGuy]

Clark was overshadowed by Paige their freshman year. Paige was not only freshman of the year . . .

FWIW, WBCA and USBWA both had Bueckers and Clark as co-FOY. Does AP even pick a FOY? Can’t recall and can’t quickly find it.

Also, if I understand your Clark narrative, you’re saying her popularity and media attention were earned by performance, rather than by media anoitment. Perhaps explains why Clark moved the TV ratings needle.

 

[visitingcock]

FWIW, WBCA and USBWA both had Bueckers and Clark as co-FOY. Does AP even pick a FOY? Can’t recall and can’t quickly find it.

Also, if I understand your Clark narrative, you’re saying her popularity and media attention were earned by performance, rather than by media anoitment. Perhaps explains why Clark moved the TV ratings needle.

Yes. She earned it.

 

[cancontent]

Can only hope this could lead to the women's game no longer being part of FloHoops!

 

[BigTenGuy]

I would love to see BTN numbers comparing Viewership on that network for men’s vs women’s bb broadcasts.

Pending the 2024 men's Big Ten tourney, the top 4 most watched BTN basketball games in network history are:

3/11/22 Michigan State vs Wisconsin (men) 1,192,000
3/9/24 Iowa v Michigan (women) 1,075,000
3/8/24 Iowa v Penn State (women) 1,040,000
3/12/21 Iowa v Wisconsin (men) 939,000

Iowa vs. Michigan Marks Most-Watched Women's Athletic Event in Network History - Big Ten Network

For the first time in network history, the Big Ten Network had two women's athletic events bring in over one million viewers. On Saturday, March 9, the semifinal matchup between Iowa and Michigan delivered 1,075,000 viewers, making it the most-watched women's athletic event in BTN history. The...

btn.com

The magnitude of the WBB increase this year is astonishing. Before the current season, the most watched WBB game on BTN was Iowa vs Maryland last year in the Big Ten tourney with 380,000 viewers.

Big Ten Women’s Basketball Sets Viewership Record For Second Consecutive Year - Big Ten Network

For the second consecutive season, Big Ten regular season women's basketball and the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament Presented by TIAA were the most-watched in Big Ten Network history. BTN's Big Ten Women's basketball tournament was up +25% year-over-year, averaging 150,000 viewers per...

btn.com

 

[donalddoowop]

Kiah Stokes is doing color on the WAC Tournament today on ESPNU.

 

[TN-Gamecock]

Look at the last few ESPN darlings of WBB...Plum, Ionescu, Bueckers and now Catlin and tell me what they all had in common. There were multiple articles almost daily about each one. I'll hang up and wait.

They are some of the greatest of all-time. Wish more was written about Cameron Brink. If I started a team today...Caitlin would be my 1st choice with Brink #2.

Here's my team if I could get them all.

1. PG Clark
2. SG Bueckers
3. PF Brink
4. C Kitley
5. SF Jackson

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Fox had a great season, fantastic numbers on that package.

 

[Pradanelly]

They are some of the greatest of all-time. Wish more was written about Cameron Brink. If I started a team today...Caitlin would be my 1st choice with Brink #2.

Here's my team if I could get them all.

1. PG Clark
2. SG Bueckers
3. PF Brink
4. C Kitley
5. SF Jackson

Greatest of all-time is a stretch...

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I think maybe there are many players who aren't white that got a ton of coverage.

Two of them went to South Carolina and were covered to saturation.

Angel Reese is another.

Also Ionescu and Clark for two were breaking all time records. It's hard for me say Bueckers didn't deserve every bit of the freshman attention. Then she got market corrected by Clark and you don't hear about her so much.

 

[visitingcock]

Greatest of all-time is a stretch...

Here's what I think is @awhom111 's last regular season submission. It includes a number of "smaller" broadcasts mixed in with some larger ones previously posted. Let's talk about it for about 48 hours. Then, I will close it as we start looking at numbers for the Tournament.

Thank you all who this participated this season.

3/6 Ball State-Kent State ESPNU 45,000
3/7 Illinois-Maryland BTN 56,000
3/7 Purdue-Nebraska BTN 128,000
3/7 Howard-Norfolk State ESPNU 20,000
3/7 Wisconsin-Penn State BTN 95,000
3/7 Minnesota-Michigan BTN 91,000
3/8 Maryland-Ohio State BTN 196,000 .03
3/8 Nebraska-Michigan State BTN 195,000 .03
3/8 Penn State-Iowa BTN 1,040,000 .22
3/8 Michigan-Indiana BTN 454,000 .11
3/9 Providence-UConn FS1 249,000
3/9 Marquette-Villanova FS2 40,000
3/9 Maryland-Nebraska BTN 357,000
3/9 Michigan-Iowa BTN 1,075,000
3/9 Tennessee-South Carolina ESPNU 221,000
3/9 Ole Miss-LSU ESPNU 306,000
3/9 Seton Hall-Creighton FS2 43,000
3/9 Georgetown-St. John's FS2 22,000
3/10 Gameday ESPN 383,000
3/10 UNC Greensboro-Chattanooga ESPNU 24,000
3/10 Nebraska-Iowa CBS 3,021,000
3/10 Notre Dame-North Carolina State ESPN 679,000
3/10 Marquette-UConn FS1 262,000
3/10 LSU-South Carolina ESPN 1,960,000
3/10 Rhode Island-Richmond ESPN2 75,000
3/10 USC-Stanford ESPN 1,442,000
3/10 Georgetown-Creighton FS1 194,000
3/10 Presbyterian-Radford ESPN2 82,000
3/11 Iowa State-Oklahoma ESPN2 140,000 .03
3/11 Kansas State-Texas ESPN2 209,000 .05
3/11 Georgetown-UConn FS1 307,000 .04
3/12 Iowa State-Texas ESPN2 336,000 .05

 

[wbbhoops278]

Does mixture of ingredients include circumstances too? Talent aside, the interest in NCAAW was starting to increase prior to her joining Iowa. NIL and marketing has also helped as well. Could she have had the same impact 5-10 years ago? I don't know.

Yeah but I guess, does it matter what would have happened 5-10 years ago? Anyone who accomplishes anything does so with the context of time, technology, location, opportunities, and a ton of other factors.

I won't play into the trope about who is "the best" and all that nonsense, but it's pretty indisputable what she's done to bring eyes and fans to the game. That said, I don't know that I agree with the notion that she's "building the foundation" (the post you were responding to) because I do think that's bigger than she is, although she's certainly contributing.

 

[darrell]

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

They are some of the greatest of all-time. Wish more was written about Cameron Brink. If I started a team today...Caitlin would be my 1st choice with Brink #2.

Here's my team if I could get them all.

1. PG Clark
2. SG Bueckers
3. PF Brink
4. C Kitley
5. SF Jackson

Brink is an outstanding player. PAC-12 players have been hurt by the ineptitude of the P12N.

 

[TN-Gamecock]

Clark was overshadowed by Paige their freshman year. Paige was not only freshman of the year but also national POY. yeah, you heard some about Clark but no nearly as much as Paige. Not even close.

In their sophomore year, Boston was the media darling. Clark was staring to come on in the news while Paige was injured but Clark was nowhere near what she would become as a junior.

Junior year, she had a very good year and Paige was almost completely out of the news. She and Boston were running neck in neck until about February, Clark started putting up logo threes under pressure asthe Big Ten. Then she crushed shot after shot including that game winner against Indiana. She was the media the darling. When she took Iowa to the Elite Eight, even a Gamecock like me said "Yeah, she deserves POTY."

When she led her little band of rebels to defeat the Evil Empire in the Final Four she became THE Media Queen.

Stay tuned!

Hollywood could not have scripted a better story than what's happened to Caitlin and her star power....

 

[cancontent]

Hollywood could not have scripted a better story than what's happened to Caitlin and her star power....

They're too busy rebooting everything instead of trying to be creative.

 

[visitingcock]

Hollywood could not have scripted a better story than what's happened to Caitlin and her star power....

Paige’s comeback from injury to lead UConn to the 22 championship game with wins over NC State and Stanford come up just short. It then, that would have been that would have been like just another “ Yankees win the pennant” story,

 

[visitingcock]

A few more from @awhom111 :

"Not sure when they will get the rest of the ESPNU tournaments up, but here are these two before we get to actual NCAA tournament games:
3/17 Missouri State-Drake ESPN2 183,000
3/17 Selection Show ESPN 1,941,000"

 

[visitingcock]

Ratings Roundup: NCAA Women’s College Basketball Sweeps Rankings, Iowa Tops Viewership Charts

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, Iowa ...

www.sportsvideo.org

 

[BigTenGuy]

Will be interesting to see how scheduling, including the new Dawn Staley rule, impacts tourney viewership.

 

[cancontent]

Will be interesting to see how scheduling, including the new Dawn Staley rule, impacts tourney viewership.

Please refresh my memory on the Staley rule. Was this about when a top seed played?

 

[visitingcock]

tournament Viewership thread started.

Time to close this regular season thread? @HuskyNan ?