Villanova-North Carolina produced historically low TV ratings for the NCAA Tournament championship game, as the 10.6 fast national rating is down 34% from Duke-Wisconsin last year and the lowest rating ever posted for the game, which was carried on TBS, TNT and truTV. This year's game marked the first time the final game was held on cable and that clearly dragged down the numbers despite one of the most exciting endings in tournament history. The game drew 17.8 million viewers, but that is down 37% from '15 and marks the game's fourth-lowest viewership ever. The least-viewed title game remains UConn-Georgia Tech from '04 with 17.1 million viewers. Last year's game pulled a 16.0 rating and 28.3 million viewers.
Despite the drop, last night’s game ranks as the second-best college hoops audience in the history of cable TV, behind only the Wisconsin-Kentucky Final Four game last year, which also aired across TBS, TNT and truTV. Next year's Final Four and championship game will be carried by CBS, and Turner Sports is scheduled to have both again in '18.
