TV Ratings: NCAA Championship Game Takes a Hit in TBS Move, Pulls 17.8 Million Viewers

April 05, 2016 11:44am PT by Michael O'Connell

The game's audience drops nearly 10 million viewers from the 18-year highs CBS hit in 2015.

Even a nail-biter of a game couldn't help Monday's NCAA Championship, the crescendo of March Madness, from succumbing to the natural dips of its broadcast-to-cable move.

Villanova’s 77-74 buzzer beater victory North Carolina averaged 17.8 million viewers across TBS, TNT and TruTV. A drop seemed inevitable regardless of the outlet. The 2015 Championship, which had the wider reach of CBS, capped off a record-breaking tournament with an 18-year high of 28.3 million viewers.

The game peaked at the tail-end, between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m., with 22.3 million viewers.

All in all, it ranks as the No. 2 college basketball game to ever air on cable. But that nearly 10-million drop is an awfully steep one. The coverage was a first for Turner Sports, which owns TBS, TNT and Tru. Per a 2010 with CBS Sports and the NCAA, 2016 marked the first time that the final three games of the tournament aired on cable.