Final Nielsen Ratings: Duke-Michigan Takes Top Spot Among Early NCAA Telecasts

The chart below lists final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts. All ratings listed are U.S. ratings (THE DAILY).

BROADCAST TV	DATE	NET	TIME (ET)	RAT.	VIEWERS (000)
NCAA Basketball: Third Round: Duke-Michigan	3/20	CBS	2:41-5:04pm	6.3	9,666
NCAA Basketball: Third Round: Ohio State-George Mason	3/20	CBS	5:04-7:19pm	5.6	8,816
NCAA Basketball: Third Round: Florida-UCLA	3/19	CBS	2:54-5:19pm	4.9	7,427
NASCAR Sprint Cup: Jeff Byrd 500	3/20	Fox	1:30-4:18pm	4.3	7,240
NCAA Basketball: Third Round: North Carolina-Washington	3/20	CBS	12:00-2:21pm	4.2	6,357
NCAA Basketball: Third Round: Richmond-Morehead State	3/19	CBS	5:19-7:36pm	3.9	6,016
NCAA Basketball: Third Round: Kentucky-West Virginia	3/19	CBS	12:00-2:38pm	3.9	5,858
NCAA Basketball: Third Round: BYU-Gonzaga	3/19	CBS	7:48-10:02pm	3.0	4,771
NCAA Basketball: Second Round: BYU-Wofford	3/17	CBS	7:00-9:29pm	3.0	4,670
NCAA Basketball: Second Round: Washington-Georgia	3/18	CBS	9:59pm-12:18am	2.8	4,451
NCAA Basketball: Second Round: North Carolina-Long Island	3/18	CBS	7:00-9:48pm	2.7	4,054
NCAA Basketball: Second Round: Gonzaga-St. John's	3/17	CBS	9:48pm-12:07am	2.6	4,046
NCAA Basketball: Second Round: Kentucky-Princeton	3/17	CBS	3:01-5:16pm	2.3	3,304
NCAA Basketball: Second Round: Arizona-Memphis	3/18	CBS	2:49-5:30pm	2.0	2,794
NCAA Basketball: Second Round: West Virginia-Clemson	3/17	CBS	12:00-2:39pm	2.1	2,792
NCAA Basketball: Second Round: Texas-Oakland	3/18	CBS	12:00-2:38pm	1.7	2,284
PGA Tour: Transitions Championship: Final Round	3/20	NBC	3:00-6:00pm	1.4	1,945
PGA Tour: Transitions Championship: Third Round	3/19	NBC	3:00-6:00pm	1.0	1,374
Tennis: BNP Paribas Open: Men's, Women's Finals	3/20	ABC	2:00-6:00pm	0.8	1,156
NHL: Rangers-Penguins	3/20	NBC	12:30-3:00pm	0.6	876
Tennis: BNP Paribas Open: Men's Semifinals	3/19	ABC	2:00-6:00pm	0.5	708
CABLE TV	DATE	NET	TIME (ET)	RAT.	VIEWERS (000)
NCAA Tournament: Third Round: Arizona-Texas	3/20	TNT	6:00-8:33pm	2.6	4,408
NCAA Tournament: Third Round: Kansas-Illinois	3/20	TNT	8:52-11:05pm	2.6	4,408
NCAA Tournament: Third Round: Butler-Pittsburgh	3/19	TBS	7:00-9:29pm	2.2	3,555
NCAA Tournament: Third Round: UConn-Cincinnati	3/19	TBS	9:41pm-12:09am	2.2	3,458
NCAA Tournament: Third Round: Wisconsin-Kansas State	3/19	TNT	8:54-11:24pm	2.0	3,428
NCAA Tournament: Third Round: Florida State-Notre Dame	3/20	TBS	9:40-11:59pm	2.1	3,408
NCAA Tournament: Third Round: San Diego State-Temple	3/19	TNT	6:00-8:36pm	1.9	3,055
NBA: Thunder-Heat	3/16	ESPN	8:06-10:49pm	1.9	2,892
NBA: Magic-Lakers	3/14	ESPN	10:33pm-1:04am	1.9	2,788
NBA: Spurs-Heat	3/14	ESPN	8:00-10:33pm	1.8	2,722

NOTES: NESN drew a 6.6 local overnight rating for Thursday night's Canadiens-Bruins game, the net's highest regular-season ratings ever for a Bruins game. The previous high was a 6.2 for Penguins-Bruins in March '10 (NESN)....TSN drew 286,000 viewers for the Whitecaps' inaugural MLS game last Saturday, the "second largest Major League Soccer TV audience ever in Canada." The viewership for the game, which the Whitecaps won 4-2 over Toronto FC, was up 53% from Toronto FC's season debut last year on the CBC (GLOBESPORTS.com, 3/23)....Rogers Sportsnet Pacific drew 622,000 viewers for last Friday's Coyotes-Canucks game, the network's highest Canucks audience of the season (Rogers).