NCAA Ratings Match Last Year
March 16, 2001 | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2001
NEW YORK (AP) - The first day of the NCAA tournament, loaded with upsets and close games, was a television success, according to the overnight ratings.
Thursday's 16 games - eight in the East Regional and eight in the West - drew a 4.7 overnight rating and an 11 share on CBS for the periods from noon to 5 p.m. EST and 7:30 p.m. to Midnight EST.
The numbers matched last year's opening-day figures, which were the best for the first day since 1994's 4.9/12. They also were among the few major sports events that have not shown ratings declines in recent months.
The overnights are based on 49 major markets. Full national ratings will be available later. The rating is the percentage of television households in the United States tuned to a telecast, and the share is the percentage watching a telecast among households with TVs in use at the time.