March Madness Draws Record Viewership Through Two Rounds

The men’s NCAA basketball tournament has drawn record viewership through the first two rounds of this year’s March Madness.

Games across CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV are averaging 10.1 million viewers, which is up 7% over last year. It’s the first time the tournament has averaged more than 10 million viewers through two rounds. The previous record was 9.3 million viewers in 1993.

After a record-setting opening day, first-round games on Thursday and Friday averaged 9.5 million viewers, the most on record and up 9% from 2025. Saturday and Sunday marked the second-most-watched second round since 1993, with those games averaging 11 million viewers, up 7% from last year.

Sunday’s early primetime slot was the most-watched window of the first week of any NCAA tournament with 19.7 million viewers, up 29% over last year’s comparable window. During that timeframe, March Madness fans saw No. 5-seed St. John’s 67-65 victory over No. 4 Kansas, No. 9 Iowa’s 73-72 upset of No. 1 Florida, and No. 6 Tennessee’s 79-72 win over No. 3 Virginia. 

March Madness continues with Sweet 16 coverage on CBS and TBS/truTV on Thursday and Friday. Three of the tournament’s No. 1 seeds are still alive. No. 11 Texas is the lowest seed remaining, with a lack of traditional Cinderella teams advancing past the Round of 32.

Elite Eight coverage will air on CBS and TBS on Saturday and Sunday.