CBS Sports has scored a 5.4 average Nielsen rating for
the NCAA men's basketball tournament through the weekend,
"down slightly" from last year's 5.6 average, according to
Barry Jackson of the MIAMI HERALD. Locally, Sunday's Miami
(FL) - Purdue game, which drew a 7.7 rating, was the "most-
watched Hurricanes basketball game ... possibly since the
program was reinstated in 1985" (MIAMI HERALD, 3/16). In
Boston, Howard Manly writes that Cincinnati, the U.S.'s 32nd
largest market, has "delivered the highest ratings for CBS"
for the tournament, with a 13.9 average rating for opening-
round games. Manly adds that with the "exception" of the
DC-area, "none of the larger media markets are watching the
tournament in great numbers" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/16).
MILTON'S PARADISE LOST: In Baltimore, Milton Kent
writes that despite the "best efforts" of CBS directors,
viewers can see "empty seats" at NCAA tournament venues,
which "makes you think that this tournament may not be the
big deal we've all been led to believe it is." Kent, on the
CBS promotions running throughout the game broadcasts: "I
thought I loved 'Raymond.' But after so many promos, I've
decided to kick our relationship back to maybe a bemused
indifference. And, to be honest, I'm not sure I want to
like Craig Kilborn" (Baltimore SUN, 3/16).
RIDING THE I-NET WAVE: CBS SportsLine announced that
traffic on Thursday and Friday resulted in the top two days
ever for page views and visits. The site received around 21
million page views and 1.4 million visits on Thursday, while
on Friday it received approximately 21.5 million page views
and 1.5 million visits. SportsLine had more than 65 million
page views and a total of nearly 5 million visits over the
past four days of the tournament (CBS SportsLine).
