This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The BYU basketball team wasn't successful on Thursday night — falling to Florida in overtime — but CBS and TBS continue to have great success in the ratings with the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Here's the latest release from CBS:
CBS SPORTS' AND TURNER SPORTS' EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF THE 2011 NCAA DIVISION I MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP DELIVERS HIGHEST OVERALL TOURAMENT RATINGS IN 18 YEARS Thursday's Regional Semi-Finals Score Best Ratings In 18 Years, Up +28% Over 2010 CBS Sports' and Turner Sports' exclusive live coverage of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV combined to deliver the best overall tournament-to-date average ratings in the metered markets in 18 years (1993). The overall tournament average-to-date, including the FIRST FOUR®, in the metered markets is a 6.5/14, up +18% from a 5.5/12 for CBS Sports' 2010 coverage according to Nielsen. Coverage of the regional semi-finals on TBS and CBS on Thursday, March 24 combined to deliver an overnight household rating/share of 8.6/14, up +28% from a 6.7/12 for CBS Sports' 2010 coverage, according to Nielsen. The 8.6/14 was the highest rating for the Thursday regional semi-finals in the metered markets since a 9.0/16 in 1993. The first telecast window of the night combined to earn an 8.5/14, up +37% from a 6.2/11 last year. The second window of the night delivered an 8.7/15, up +21% from a 7.2/13 last year.