NCAA Sweet 16 Ratings Up 15% on Thursday

Coverage on CBS and TBS scores best numbers in 17 years

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/25/2011 11:29:45 AM

Updated: 3:20 p.m. ET

CBS Sports' and Turner Sports' combined coverage on the 2011 Division I Men's Basketball Championship continued to pay off in ratings Thursday, hitting a 17-year high.

The regional semi-finals on TBS and CBS delivered a combined 7.6 household rating, up 15% from last year on CBS, according to Nielsen. It was the highest household rating for the Thursday Sweet 16 round since 1994. The networks averaged 12 million total viewers, up 14% from 2010.

The first telecast window earned an 7.4, up 23% from last year and the second grew 10% to an 7.8.