Primetime Ratings: CBS Works Overtime in March Madness Final
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship Game Boosts Network on Monday Night
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/8/2008 2:41:00 PM
CBS scored Monday night with its coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament final (Kansas over Memphis in overtime).
The network averaged a 5.4 rating/14 share on the night, thanks to a 6.1/15 for the game from 9 p.m.-11 p.m.
ABC was second with a 3.9/10 thanks to Dancing with the Stars, which was the top-rated show for its hour-and-a-half outing from 8 p.m.-9:30 p.m. with a 4.8/14. That included beating CBS' game coverage from 9 p.m.-9:30 p.m. with a 5.4/14 to CBS' 4.8/12, although the CBS coverage was really of the preamble to the game, with the tipoff not occurring until almost 9:30.
NBC was third with a 2.5/7 led by Medium with a 3.4/9 up against CBS from 10 p.m.-11 p.m. NBC was hurt by the continued poor performance of My Dad Is Better than Your Dad, which was only better than The CW in the ratings department from 8 p.m.-9 p.m., managing only a 1.3/5.
Fox was fourth, but just barely, at a 2.4/6 in the Nielsen Media Research overnights. Its best showing was from a repeat of House (2.5/7).
The CW came in fifth with a 0.5/1 for repeats of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill.
