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Kansas-North Carolina delivers historic cable TV ratings, an increase over 2021
By Keith Farner
Published:
Kansas and North Carolina delivered an entertaining national championship game on Monday, and the audience reflected it.
The game is the most-watched men’s basketball national championship Game ever on cable television, and up 4 percent compared to 2021’s game between Baylor and Gonzaga. The entire tournament on CBS and Turner averaged 10.7 million viewers, a 13 percent increase over last year.
The game averaged 18.1 million viewers on TBS, TNT and truTV. This was the third time the championship game was on Turner networks, but first since 2018. They were supposed to have the 2020 final, but the tournament was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Associated Press reported.
.@KUHoops vs. @UNC_Basketball is most-watched NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship Game ever on cable television, up 4% vs. 2021 pic.twitter.com/dGfqmVAjvr
— March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) April 5, 2022
Even coming off a historic game between Duke and North Carolina, the title game held its own among other memorable games.
Kansas’ 16-point comeback, which was the biggest comeback in championship game history, was also the third most-watched college basketball game in cable TV history. Saturday’s semifinal matchup between North Carolina and Duke, averaged 18.5 million, ranks second. The 2015 semifinal between Wisconsin and Kentucky — also on Turner — is No. 1 (22.63 million).
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
