Primetime Ratings: National Championship Down in Early Numbers

CBS’ coverage of Monday night’s NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship Game dipped from last year with 21.2 million total viewers from 9-11:24 p.m. ET, according to Nielsen nationals.

UConn’s win over Kentucky was down 9% from the 24.3 million that watched Louisville defeat Michigan in 2013.

The game drew a 7.2 rating among adults 18-49, which was also down 14%.

The pregame coverage at 8:30 p.m. drew a 1.6 rating.

CBS won the night with an overall 4.9 rating/13 share in the demo during primetime.

Elsewhere, NBC’s The Voice was even with last week’s 3.4, but pumped ratings life into American Dream Builders, which more than doubled its last Sunday broadcast with a 1.6 rating. NBC finished in second with a 2.8/8.

ABC’s Dancing With the Stars hit a low for this cycle with a 2.1, down 9% from last week. With a repeat of Castle at 10 p.m., ABC finished in third with a 1.8/5.

Fox was in fourth with a 1.5/4. Bones rose 7% to a 1.6, while The Following was even with last week’s 1.4.

The CW aired only a new Star-Crossed to finish with a 0.3/1. Star-Crossed dipped a tenth in both the 18-49 and the net’s targeted adults 18-34 demo to a 0.3 and 0.2 rating, respectively. 

(Photo Credit: AP Photo/David J. Phillip)