March Madness delivering big audience

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NCAA March MadnessCBS Sports and Turner Sports’ exclusive second-round coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I  Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV on Thursday combined to deliver a 5.3 U.S. HH rating (+6% vs. 2011) and 7.7 million total viewers (+4% vs. 2011), according to Nielsen Fast Nationals.


* Last night’s coverage across the four networks delivered the highest-rated and most-viewed Thursday of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship since 1991, when the tournament expanded to four telecast windows.

* The second telecast window of the day combined to earn a 4.8 U.S. HH rating (+9% vs. last year) and 6,723,000 total viewers (+5% from last year).

* The third telecast window of the day combined to earn a 6.4 U.S. HH rating (+10% vs. last year) and 9,664,000 total viewers (+8% from last year).

* The final window combined to earn a 6.4 U.S. HH rating (+8% vs. last year) and 9,900,000 total viewers (+8% from last year).

Source: Nielsen Media Research, based on Fast National Data, Live +SD data stream. 3/13-3/17/12 vs 3-15-3/17/11. 2011 and 2012 averages based on weighted average of 4 telecast gross across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Historical audiences, CBS 1991 through 2005 based on Live data. 2006 through 2012 based on Live + SD. 2003 based on CBS / ESPN average of First Round.