March Madness Tips Off With Record 9.8M Viewers on Opening Day

March Madness tipped off last week with the most-watched opening day of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament on record.

The 16 games broadcast across CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV on Thursday averaged 9.8 million viewers, which is up 6% from last year’s opening day, which also set a record at the time.

Thursday’s primetime window—which included No. 1 seed Michigan’s 101–80 rout over No. 16 Howard and No. 11 VCU’s 82–78 upset victory over No. 6 North Carolina—was the most-watched first-round window in March Madness history, averaging 12.5 million viewers.

The early and late afternoon TV windows also set records of their own for their time slots, averaging 8 million viewers and 9.8 million viewers, respectively.

First-round games Thursday also included No. 1 Duke narrowly escaping No. 16 Siena with a 71–65 win in which the Blue Devils trailed for the majority of the game. 

No. 12 High Point upset No. 5 Wisconsin 83–82 to seal the program’s first March Madness victory. No. 11 Texas defeated No. 6 BYU 79–71, which kicked off the Longhorns’ Sweet 16 run.

Viewership for Friday’s first-round games and the second-round games Saturday and Sunday is expected to be available Tuesday.

Watch Party

Before Thursday’s opening day, truTV drew its most-watched First Four on record.

A combined 7.5 million viewers watched Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s play-in games from Dayton. Miami (Ohio)’s 89–79 win over SMU was truTV’s most-watched First Four game on record, averaging 2.8 million viewers.

March Madness continues Thursday and Friday with Sweet 16 action on CBS and truTV/TBS.