Turner Sports averaged 18.9 million viewers for the two men’s Final Four games on Saturday night, which included six telecasts across TBS, TNT and truTV. That figure is up 35% from last year, when the three-network approach was introduced. TBS carried the traditional broadcast, while team-specific broadcasts appeared on TNT and truTV. The six-telecast audience also marked the best national semifinals audience in 19 years (Syracuse-Mississippi State and Kentucky-UMass in '96), but most of those years involved only two telecasts on CBS. Wisconsin's upset of previously undefeated Kentucky in Saturday's late window averaged 22.6 million viewers across TBS, TNT and truTV, up 39% from the same matchup last year. The game peaked at 28.2 million viewers from 11:00-11:15pm ET. Duke-Michigan State in the early window drew 15.3 million viewers across the three nets, up 31% and delivering the best early window game in 10 years. Through the Final Four, CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV are averaging 10.8 million viewers for NCAA Tournament coverage, up 35% from last year. The audience figure is also the best in 19 years. Meanwhile, the March Madness Live app has drawn 77 million video streams, marking an all-time record for the event (Turner Sports/CBS). The AP noted viewership "has been strong all tournament, with a string of upsets and close games the first Thursday building momentum and Kentucky's pursuit of perfection piquing fans' interest." A Kentucky-Duke championship game on CBS "would have attracted a massive audience," though the Duke-Wisconsin matchup "will likely still do well." As has occurred with other sports whose biggest games "migrated to cable, Saturday's ratings showed that the most attractive matchups can still draw big audiences even with the networks available in fewer homes" (AP, 4/5).
MIDDLE GROUND: SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote if CBS and Turner "continue with the Team Stream telecasts for the NCAA semifinals -- and I hope they do because 1) It’s additive content for viewers, and 2) Watching homer broadcasts is hilarious -- the networks must spend more marketing dollars educating the audience on where the middle of the road broadcast is located." Twitter on Saturday night once again "was filled with complaints from viewers who mistook the homer broadcasts (on TNT and truTV) for the middle-of-the-road broadcast (which aired on TBS)" (SI.com, 4/5).
SLING SHOT: RE/CODE's Peter Kafka wrote Dish Network's Sling TV by its own admission on Saturday "couldn’t handle an influx of users who tuned in to watch Turner Networks’ broadcasts of the March Madness college basketball semi-finals." Sling TV users said that this "led to streams that were choppy or nonexistent." Sling's @slinganswers Twitter account on Saturday night around the middle of the Wisconsin-Kentucky game wrote, "We’re sorry some basketball fans saw errors tonight due to extreme sign-ups and streaming. Engineers rebalanced load across network partners." Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch later said that his service "was well aware that streams and sign-ups would be in high demand on Saturday." While Lynch conceded that his service "was overwhelmed, he says outages and quality issues only affected around 1,000 users -- 'a fraction' of Sling’s base" (RECODE.net, 4/5). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Shalini Ramachandran notes Dish "has been ramping up marketing of Sling," and the tournament "is one of the major programming assets it secured in a recent distribution deal with Turner." The streaming traffic jam "illustrates the hurdles Web TV still needs to surmount" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/6).
SUPER SUB: In San Antonio, Tim Griffin profiled broadcaster Brian Anderson, noting he was “provided a unique opportunity last week” after Marv Albert was unavailable to work the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional final between Kentucky and Notre Dame after losing his voice. It left Turner Sports officials “scrambling for solutions before offering the opportunity to Anderson a day before the game.” Anderson estimated that more than 30 people “were involved in settling logistical questions before he even arrived at the arena, arranging for a replacement” calling the Brewers’ TV games from Spring Training in a 36-hour preparation window. Anderson said, “I’m still in awe of it. … It was an incredible logistical challenge that everybody pulled off beautifully. It was really fun to watch. I didn’t do much except waiting for the phone to ring.” Griffin noted Anderson’s “strong work was evident during the pulsating broadcast,” as it “helped him earn rave reviews” (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 4/3).
