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SBD/February 25, 2011/Research and Ratings
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ESPN's BracketBusters Audience Down For Second Consecutive Year
ESPN's BracketBusters averaged 226,000 viewers across six telecasts this year on ESPN2, down 8.1% from last year and down 38.4% from '09. This year's BracketBusters included a Sunday afternoon telecast for the first time in years. The Cleveland State-Old Dominion matchup did not perform well up against strong sports competition. The game averaged only 114,000 viewers, marking the least-viewed BracketBusters game since at least '07. The Missouri State-Valparaiso matchup last Saturday in the 5:00pm ET slot earned the top BracketBusters audience this year with 378,000 viewers. It also topped all BracketBusters games last year. Below is a viewership trend for BracketBusters from recent years. Viewership figures for games aired on ESPNU are unavailable.
ESPN BRACKETBUSTERS VIEWERSHIP TRENDDAYDATENETTIME (ET)'11 MATCHUP VIEWERS (000)Fri.2/18ESPN27:00pmVCU-Wichita State 215Sat.2/19ESPN25:00pmMissouri State-Valparaiso 378Sat.2/19ESPN27:03pmGeorge Mason-Northern Iowa 248Sat.2/19ESPN29:19pmUtah State-St. Mary's 207Sat.2/19ESPN211:16pmMontana-Long Beach State 189Sun.2/20ESPN21:00pmCleveland State-Old Dominion 114AVERAGE ===================================>>>>>>>226DAYDATENETTIME (ET)'10 MATCHUP VIEWERS (000)Fri.2/19ESPN27:00pmOld Dominion-Northern Iowa 258Sat.2/20ESPN211:00amSiena-Butler 301Sat.2/20ESPN21:03pmLouisiana Tech-Northeastern 164Sat.2/20ESPN23:03pmNevada-Missouri State 209Sat.2/20ESPN28:02pmCollege of Charleston-George Mason 312Sat.2/20ESPN212:00amWichita State-Utah State 228AVERAGE ===================================>>>>>>>246DAYDATENETTIME (ET)'09 MATCHUP VIEWERS (000)Fri.2/20ESPN27:00pmIllinois State-Niagara 275Sat.2/21ESPN211:00amNortheastern-Wright State 190Sat.2/21ESPN12:00pmButler-Davidson 1,130Sat.2/21ESPN21:03pmBuffalo-Vermont 178Sat.2/21ESPN23:27pmNorthern Iowa-Siena 147Sat.2/21ESPN25:11pmUtah State-St. Mary's 242AVERAGE ===================================>>>>>>>367DAYDATENETTIME (ET)'08 MATCHUP VIEWERS (000)Fri.2/22ESPN27:00pmDavidson-Winthrop 284Sat.2/23ESPN211:00pmVCU-Akron 148Sat.2/23ESPN21:00pmGeorge Mason-Ohio 189Sat.2/23ESPN23:05pmCreighton-Oral Roberts 233Sat.2/23ESPN25:11pmDrake-Butler 648Sat.2/23ESPN212:00amKent State-St. Mary's 192AVERAGE ==================================>>>>>>>277




