Male’s final ratings up, but fall short of women’s

For the very first time, the NCAA females’s basketball champion outdrew the men.UConn’s 75-60 success over Purdue in Monday night’s guys’s final on TBS and TNT balanced 14.82 million viewers, according to Nielsen. That was not enough to go beyond the 18.87 million who watched South Carolina defeat Caitlin Clark and Iowa in Sunday afternoon’s women’s last on ABC and ESPN.Editor’s Picks Monday night’s audience was a 4%boost over last year’s final in between

the Huskies and San Diego State on CBS. The number likely dropped off during the second half when UConn took control to become the first repeat champion considering that Florida in 2007. The two men’s semifinal games balanced 12.8 million. UConn-Alabama brought in 14.18 million, and the game between Purdue and NC State balanced 11.45 million. Friday night’s women’s semifinal games balanced 10.8 million, with the Iowa-UConn game averaging 14.2 million.The 67 games of the men’s competition across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV balanced 9.9 million audiences, a 3% boost over last year.

This year’s tournament benefited from more blue-blood and power conference programs advancing beyond the very first weekend.