Monday night’s nail-biting NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship saw the Villanova win give the trio of TBS, TNT and truTV a 13.2 coverage rating, according to Nielsen, drawing 17.8 million viewers. That marks a 37% dip in viewership from last season’s Duke/Wisconsin showdown on CBS, which drew the largest audience in 18 years. Still, the classic ranked as the second most-viewed college basketball telecast in the history of cable television and was the highest-rated and most-viewed program of the night across all of television. According to CBS and Turner Sports, the National Championship collectively grossed 2.5 billion minutes of consumption across television and digital platforms. NCAA March Madness Live netted 3.4 million live video streams and 1.1 million live hours of video consumption, the latter a 16% increase over last year.
Top moments from the 2016 NCAA Final Four and Championship Game, according to TiVo:
1. April 4 Villanova/North Carolina: Kris Jenkins hits a 3-pointer to win Villanova’s first National Championship since 1985.
2. April 4 Villanova/North Carolina: Villanova’s Phil Booth hits a jumper cutting the Tar Heels lead to 5.
3. April 2 Villanova/Oklahoma: With 11 seconds left in the first half Josh Hart nails a 3.
4. April 2 Villanova/Oklahoma: Jenkins steals the ball from Oklahoma
5. April 2 Villanova Oklahoma: Villanova celebrates the largest margin of victory in any Final Four game.
