Many lamented the lack of a "blue blood" college basketball program in the Final Four and openly questioned whether the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Game would be the lowest rated ever. We now have the answer, and it wasn't positive news for CBS.
Monday's title game averaged 14.69 million viewers. That number represents a 15% decrease from last year's Kansas/North Carolina matchup that aired on TBS, TNT, and truTV. The total viewing figure is the lowest-rated and least-watched title game.
The previous low came when Villanova defeated Michigan in 2018. An average of 16 million viewers watched that broadcast on TBS, TNT, and truTV.
The lowest National Championship Game broadcast on CBS before Monday night's tilt was Baylor's defeat of Gonzaga in 2021. An average audience of 17.1 million watched that contest.
Even though the broadcast was the lowest championship game on record, its total viewership still eclipsed the deciding game of last season's NBA Finals. 13.99 million tuned into ABC to see the Golden State Warriors defeat the Boston Celtics. The UConn/San Diego State also outdrew the record-high audience of 9.9 million for the women's national championship game that aired on ABC Sunday afternoon.
The news of the least-watched National Championship Game counters highs seen in the 2023 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The Round of 64 saw previously unseen heights in viewership, averaging 9.2 million viewers between CBS, TNT, TBS, truTV, and the March Madness Live streaming platform.
In total, this year's March Madness coverage saw an average of 9.55 million viewers per broadcast window. That is a 7% decrease compared to 2022.
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