March Madness: Has Cinderella Overstayed Her Welcome?

by srr50 on Mar 23, 2010 11:58 AM CDT in Texas Longhorns and Other Basketball

The Sweet 16 brackets don't look all that sweet to CBS executives as they look at their draw filled with bracket -- and potential ratings -- busters.

With all the dramatic finishes and the upsets, CBS saw its first week ratings go slightly down from 2009.

CBS averaged a 5.3 rating for the 15 coverage windows from Thursday through Sunday. The tournament averaged a 5.4 rating in 2009. Fans say they love the "David vs Goliath" factor in March Madness, but not enough to tune to watch David play again.

When George Mason reached the Final Four, ratings were the lowest they have been this decade (of course this is the exception that proves the rule). The fear this year is that so many casual fans have had their office pool brackets blown up, so they will lose interest for the rest of the tournament.

Northern Iowa's upset of Kansas caused a lot of upset stomachs at CBS as well.

Brand names like North Carolina, Connecticut, UCLA, Arizona and Indiana were not part of the 65-team event to begin with. When Kansas and 11 Big East and ACC teams go out on the first weekend, it makes CBS executives big fans of Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse.

The highest rated Sweet 16 regionals this decade was in 2005, when only two of the teams were seeded lower than 6th. This year there are 3 double-digit seeds in the regionals.

The one real bright spot for CBS has been the online activity. Thursday saw a record number of unique viewers (3 million) log on to watch game action. They accounted for 3.4 million hours of audio and video streaming, up 20% from 2009.

Still, the next two weeks ratings numbers will be carefully scrutinized by both CBS and the NCAA. A ratings decline might make the NCAA more nervous about expanding the tournament to 96 teams using its "opt-out" clause with CBS and leave behind a guaranteed 2 billion over the next three years to open up the bid process.

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Comments

Gresham’s Law: bad money drives out good.

(Only slightly less powerful than the law of unintended consequences.)

by parlin on Mar 23, 2010 12:29 PM CDT reply actions

So if I boycott the remainder of the tourney, I help prevent the expansion? Time to channel my inner Rosa Parks and resist watching Baylor play.

by texasengr on Mar 23, 2010 12:31 PM CDT reply actions

So, the calls may be going Kentucky, Syracuse, and Duke’s way?

by The General on Mar 23, 2010 12:35 PM CDT reply actions

Do they ever not go Duke’s way?

by JUICE on Mar 23, 2010 12:38 PM CDT reply actions

First reason to care: Texas. That is obviously over.

Second reason to care: my bracket. It is totaly fucked.

So yeah, I’m pretty much in that group that doesn’t give a shit and will watch the Harry Potter marathon or whatever the hell else they put on the TV this weekend to compete. Some mindless action would be nice since I’m still used to watching UT basketball, so the Bourne trilogy would be welcomed.

by 06_UT on Mar 23, 2010 1:00 PM CDT reply actions

I think they captured a lot of fans with the on-line availability. I know my father watched his favorite team on line.

by Bob in Houston on Mar 23, 2010 1:19 PM CDT reply actions

Rooting for Baylor all the way. How can you root against a lovable yet handicapped player like Josh Lomers?

by NY Horn on Mar 23, 2010 1:55 PM CDT reply actions

I’m with Bob. I don’t think those numbers take into account consumption by all forms of media.

by Scipio Tex on Mar 23, 2010 2:10 PM CDT reply actions

I mention the online numbers, Scip as they have them for right now, and they are the reason CBS execs aren’t jumping out of windows at Black Rock.

by srr50 on Mar 23, 2010 3:33 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah, sorry for the confusion. I saw that – I just meant that in response to the idea of “ratings” going down.

I know I watched quite a bit of it online and, in fact, consumed more media than I ordinarily would have been able to pre-internet.

by Scipio Tex on Mar 23, 2010 4:07 PM CDT reply actions

The ratings argument is short-sighted in the face of the streaming numbers. I watched the tourney on my laptop in my couch rather than my tv, precisely because I could choose which game I wanted to watch.

As far as the single games schedules that we’re approaching – with the teams left, I’d be surprised to see an increase YOY.

by what it do on Mar 23, 2010 6:20 PM CDT reply actions

The Palm broad in the red dress keeps me watching.

by Oh yeah on Mar 23, 2010 7:06 PM CDT reply actions

It’s hard to know how many of those streaming the games online were also watching them at home. Out here in California, they showed the Duke-Cal game (a 20-point domination) to the bitter end, even though two very close games were being played concurrently, so I had the laptop going along with the TV. Also, CBS recorded 3 million “unique” viewers but they’re counting my home desktop, my laptop, and my work computer as 3 unique viewers, even though I’m the only one watching them.

Still, I have a hard time believing that overall viewership is down in light of the numbers posted.

by czarcw on Mar 23, 2010 7:11 PM CDT reply actions