Last night's NCAA men's basketball tournament third round game on CBS featuring North Carolina-Creighton topped all weekend sports telecasts with a 6.4 overnight Nielsen rating. That figure is flat compared to Ohio State-George Mason in the same late afternoon window last year, and down from the top Sunday game of the NCAA Tournament last year, which was a 6.9 overnight for Duke-Michigan in the mid-afternoon window. TNT's Kansas-Purdue matchup last night was cable TV's best overnight of the weekend with a 2.8 rating. Last year's top game on cable TV during the first weekend was a 2.9 overnight for Arizona-Texas. Meanwhile, Fox saw an uptick in the overnights for NASCAR Sprint Cup coverage. The Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway earned a 4.0 overnight yesterday afternoon, up slightly from a 3.9 rating last year. NBC also saw a big gain for PGA Tour coverage yesterday. The final round of the Transitions Championship earned a 2.1 overnight for Luke Donald's playoff victory over Jim Furyk, Sang-Moon Bae and Robert Garrigus. That figure is up 31% from a 1.6 overnight for the final round last year.
Listed below are overnight Nielsen ratings from weekend sports telecasts on broadcast TV.
TELECAST | DATE | NET | TIME (ET) | RAT. |
NCAA Basketball Tournament: Second Round: Cincinnati-Texas | 3/16 | CBS | 12:00-2:30pm | 2.2 |
NCAA Basketball Tournament: Second Round: FSU-St. Bonaventure | 3/16 | CBS | 2:45-5:15pm | 2.4 |
NCAA Basketball Tournament: Second Round: Lehigh-Duke | 3/16 | CBS | 7:00-9:45pm | 4.1 |
NCAA Basketball Tournament: Second Round: Xavier-Notre Dame | 3/16 | CBS | 10:15pm-12:30am | 3.2 |
ATP Tour: BNP Paribas Open Semifinals | 3/17 | ABC | 2:00-6:00pm | 0.6 |
NCAA Basketball Tournament: Third Round: Syracuse-Kansas State | 3/17 | CBS | 12:00-2:30pm | 3.7 |
NCAA Basketball Tournament: Third Round: Ohio State-Gonzaga | 3/17 | CBS | 3:00-5:15pm | 5.7 |
NCAA Basketball Tournament: Third Round: Marquette-Murray State | 3/17 | CBS | 5:15-7:30pm | 5.2 |
NCAA Basketball Tournament: Third Round: Kentucky-Iowa State | 3/17 | CBS | 7:45-10:15pm | 4.3 |
Gymnastics: Pacific Rim Championships (taped) | 3/17 | NBC | 1:00-3:00pm | 1.1 |
PGA Tour: Transitions Championship: Third Round | 3/17 | NBC | 3:00-6:00pm | 1.3 |
American Le Mans Series: Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring | 3/18 | ABC | 12:00-2:00pm | 0.6 |
ATP Tour/WTA Tour: BNP Paribas Open finals | 3/18 | ABC | 2:00-6:00pm | 0.7 |
NCAA Basketball Tournament: Third Round: N.C. State-Georgetown | 3/18 | CBS | 12:00-2:45pm | 4.3 |
NCAA Basketball Tournament: Third Round: Michigan State-St. Louis | 3/18 | CBS | 3:00-5:30pm | 6.0 |
NCAA Basketball Tournament: Third Round: North Carolina-Creighton | 3/18 | CBS | 5:30-7:45pm | 6.4 |
NASCAR Sprint Cup: Food City 500 | 3/18 | Fox | 1:15-4:14pm | 4.0 |
NHL: Penguins-Flyers | 3/18 | NBC | 12:30-3:15pm | 1.0 |
PGA Tour: Transitions Championship: Final Round | 3/18 | NBC | 3:15-6:45pm | 2.1 |