Programming & Performance

NCAA Championship Game Averages 19.6 Million Viewers; Tournament Tops $933 Million in Ad Revenue

Monday's final generated an estimated $114 million in ad spend

Overall, tournament ratings averaged 10.5 million viewers across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.Getty Images
Headshot of Sara Jerde
By Sara Jerde

Virginia’s thrilling, 85-77 victory over Texas Tech in overtime during last night’s NCAA men’s basketball championship game averaged 19.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen. That’s a 23% increase over last year’s final on TNT and TBS, which historically draws a smaller audience than CBS’, but a 15% drop compared to CBS’ final in 2017.

The entire tournament was an ad revenue windfall for both CBS and Turner. The tournament attracted an estimated $933 million in ad revenue, according to estimates from ad measurement firm iSpot.tv.

AW+

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

To Read the Full Story Become an Adweek+ Subscriber

View Subscription Options

Already a member? Sign in

Headshot of Sara Jerde

Sara Jerde

Sara Jerde is publishing editor at Adweek, where she covers traditional and digital publishers’ business models. She also oversees political coverage ahead of the 2020 election.

Recommended articles