Jimmy V Men's Classic Pulls Top Viewership Among Early Tourneys
ESPN and ESPN2's telecasts of early NCAA basketball tournaments and special events concluded last week with the SEC/Big East Invitational. Among the 11 tournaments/events, the two games of the Jimmy V Men's Basketball Classic were the most-viewed, averaging 14 million viewers for the Davidson-West Virginia and Texas-Villanova games on December 9. The following lists average viewership for ESPN/ESPN2's NCAA basketball early-season tournaments and special events, as well as the top five most-viewed games from those respective tournaments/events (THE DAILY).
|
2008 NCAA BASKETBALL EARLY SEASON
TOURNAMENTS/SPECIAL EVENTS ON ESPN/ESPN2*
|
|
TOURNAMENT
|
NET(s)
|
GAMES
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
Jimmy V Men's Basketball Classic
|
ESPN
|
2
|
1,380
|
|
ACC/Big Ten Challenge
|
ESPN, ESPN2
|
9
|
1,039
|
| Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series |
ESPN2
|
2
|
889
|
| SEC/Big East Invitational |
ESPN, ESPN2
|
4
|
746
|
| O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic |
ESPN2
|
3
|
743
|
2K Sports Classic Benefiting
Coaches vs. Cancer |
ESPN2
|
4
|
727
|
| EA Sports Maui Invitational |
ESPN, ESPN2
|
9
|
662
|
| Old Spice Classic |
ESPN, ESPN2
|
8
|
659
|
| Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off |
ESPN2
|
8
|
454
|
| 76 Classic |
ESPN2
|
4
|
350
|
| O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off |
ESPN2
|
2
|
307
|
| NOTE: * = Excludes any games on ESPNU. |
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TOP FIVE MOST-VIEWED GAMES AMONG EARLY TOURNAMENTS/EVENTS
|
|
GAME
|
TOURNAMENT/ EVENT
|
DATE
|
NET
|
CABLE RATING
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
Duke-Purdue
|
ACC/Big Ten
Challenge
|
12/2
|
ESPN
|
1.7
|
2,038
|
|
North Carolina-Michigan State
|
ACC/Big Ten
Challenge
|
12/2
|
ESPN
|
1.6
|
2,028
|
|
North Carolina-Notre Dame
|
EA Sports Maui Invitational
|
11/26
|
ESPN2
|
1.5
|
1,903
|
| Davidson-West Virginia |
Jimmy V Men's
Basketball Classic |
12/9
|
ESPN
|
1.3
|
1,443
|
| Texas-Villanova |
Jimmy V Men's
Basketball Classic |
12/9
|
ESPN
|
1.2
|
1,311
|
|
