DUKE'S UPSET OF TN GIVES ESPN RATINGS BOOST; MORE NCAA NOTES

          ESPN scored a 2.1 Nielsen rating for its Monday night
     coverage of Duke's upset win over three-time champion
     Tennessee during the NCAA women's basketball tournament,
     according to USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke.  The rating raised
     the overall tournament rating 25% over last year to a 1.0
     ESPN rating (USA TODAY, 3/24).  In Atlanta, Prentis Rogers
     writes that Monday's rating gives ESPN its "largest audience
     not from the Final Four in its four years of covering the
     women's tournament."  But ESPN is not worried the loss of TN
     will impact the ratings for the Final Four.  ESPN
     spokesperson Mike Soltys: "The women's Final Four has
     established enough of a presence to be strong programming,
     regardless of who's playing" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 3/24).  
          ON THE MEN'S SIDE: In Toronto, William Houston writes
     that CTV SportsNet's ratings for the NCAA men's basketball
     tournament "are starting to build."  The prime-time audience
     for its first week of coverage was in the 20,000-35,000
     range, but last Thursday's regional semifinals drew 60,000
     viewers (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 3/24).
          WEB MADNESS: ESPN Internet Ventures (EIV) set multiple
     records during its men's tournament coverage.  On the first
     day of the tournament, ESPN.com saw its highest traffic ever
     with 22.3 million page views and 3.4 million visits.  By
     comparison, last year's opening day saw 12 million page
     views and 1.9 million visits.  During the first week of the
     tournament, the site averaged 19.9 million page views and 3
     million daily visits, compared to last year's 11.4 million
     page views and 1.7 million daily visits (ESPN)....CBS
     SportsLine reported opening day totals of approximately 21
     million page views and 1.4 million visits (CBS SportsLine).
     

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