NEW YORK 鈥� Even an NCAA championship matchup between two widely acknowledged as the best men's college basketball teams in the country wasn't enough to set the television world afire.
An estimated 16.92 million people watched Baylor win the national championship title by routing previously unbeaten Gonzaga on Monday, the Nielsen company said.
That's down nearly 14% from the 2019 title game between Virginia and Texas Tech. Last year's NCAA basketball tourney was
Viewership declines are hardly unusual in today's world. Awards show ratings have been cratering. Given that this year's NCAA football championship saw its ratings plummet 27%
This was the first men鈥檚 Final Four with no teams from the Eastern time zone, where nearly half of the country鈥檚 television viewers are located.
Saturday's men's semifinal 鈥� already considered a classic 鈥� where Gonzaga beat UCLA in overtime on a last-second shot was seen live by just under 15 million people.
On Sunday, the women's NCAA championship, where Stanford edged Arizona, was seen by 4.08 million people, Nielsen said.
CBS handily won in the prime time ratings last week, averaging 6.1 million viewers. ABC had 3.8 million viewers, NBC had 3.7 million, Fox had 1.8 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 940,000.
Fox News Channel led the cable networks, averaging 2.13 million viewers in prime time. TBS had 1.61 million, MSNBC had 1.59 million, ESPN had 1.42 million and HGTV had 1.16 million.
ABC's 鈥淲orld News Tonight鈥� won the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.9 million viewers. NBC's 鈥淣ightly News鈥� had 6.8 million and the 鈥淐BS Evening News鈥� had 4.7 million.
For the week of March 29-April 4, the top 20 shows in prime time, their networks and viewerships:
1. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: UCLA vs. Gonzaga, CBS, 14.94 million.
2. 鈥淟aw & Order: SVU,鈥� NBC, 8.03 million.
3. 鈥淟aw & Order: Organized Crime,鈥� NBC, 7.86 million.
4. 鈥�60 Minutes,鈥� CBS, 7.66 million.
5. 鈥淐hicago Fire,鈥� NBC, 7.35 million.
6. 鈥淐hicago Med,鈥� NBC, 7.24 million.
7. 鈥淭he Equalizer,鈥� CBS, 6.99 million.
8. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: UCLA vs. Michigan, TBS, 6.89 million.
9. 鈥淵oung Sheldon,鈥� CBS, 6.64 million.
10. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: Arkansas vs. Baylor, CBS, 6.45 million.
11. 鈥淐hicago PD,鈥� NBC, 6.42 million.
12. 鈥淏lue Bloods,鈥� CBS, 6.21 million.
13. 鈥淭he Voice鈥� (Monday), NBC, 6.16 million.
14. 鈥淣CAA Basketball Studio Show,鈥� CBS, 6.1 million.
15. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: Oregon vs. Houston, CBS, 5.92 million.
16. 鈥淎merican Idol,鈥� ABC, 5.61 million.
17. 鈥淣CIS: Los Angeles,鈥� CBS, 5.55 million.
18. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: USC vs. Gonzaga, TBS, 5.4 million.
19. 鈥淢agnum, P.I.,鈥� CBS, 5.37 million.
20. 鈥淯nited States of Al,鈥� CBS, 5.31 million.
David Bauder, The Associated Press
