Networks: Thursday's opening day of the NCAA tournament was the most-watched ever
Thursday's prime-time slate featuring VCU's upset of North Carolina drew the highest ratings ever of any opening-round TV window.
Interest is up in the NCAA tournament. Per the networks covering the games, Thursday’s opening-round coverage of the men’s NCAA tournament was the most watched ever. CBS and TNT released a joint statement Monday that that games set viewership records by multiple metrics.
Thursday’s 16 games, which were broadcast across CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV drew an average of 9. 8 million viewers, which represents a 6% increase form 2025. The prime-time slate thattipped off with 1 seed Michigan beating 16 Howard and featured 11 seed VCU’s comeback upset of 6 North Carolina drew and average of 12.
5 million viewers, the most for any first-round viewing window in NCAA tournament history. Per the networks, tournament viewership as a whole is off to its best-ever start with and average of 9. 3 million viewers, a 5% increase from last year.
First-and second-round games were played Thursday through Sunday. The statement did not clarify if that number included all of the games played through Sunday. Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2026 MLB season While no true Cinderella survived to the second weekend of the tournament, the opening two rounds featured plenty of compelling action, including St.