NCAA Final Sets U.S. TV Mark

CBS’ coverage of Duke’s 71-51 win over Michigan in Monday night’s NCAA men’s basketball championship game was watched by an estimated 58 million people, the most for a college or pro basketball game in U.S. television history. The most-watched NBA contest was Game 7 of the Lakers-Detroit Pistons final series in 1988.

Monday night’s game was also seen in 20.9 million households, the largest ever for an NCAA final. The previous record was 19.8 million for Villanova’s 1985 upset win over Georgetown.

The game also drew a 22.7 rating, making it the highest-rated final since 1985, which drew a 23.3 rating, according to figures released Tuesday by the A. C. Nielsen Co.

Duke’s 72-65 win over Kansas in last season’s championship game had a 19.4 rating, was seen in nearly 18.1 million households with 48 million people watching at least part of the game.

The 1979 Indiana State-Michigan State game, which featured future NBA stars Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, remains the highest-rated of all, with a 24.1. The discrepancy between ratings and total households comes from differing amounts of households per rating point. A ratings point is equivalent to 921,000 households this season, 931,000 last season.

CBS averaged a 9.0 rating for its tournament telecasts, a 8% increase over last year’s 8.3. Saturday’s Duke-Indiana semifinal was seen in about 15.4 million households, the largest amount to tune into a semifinal game since the current Saturday-Monday format went into effect in 1973.