NEW YORK | The NCAA college basketball tournament’s television ratings are the highest since 2005.
Through the regional finals, this year’s tourney has averaged a 6.0 rating and 13 share. That’s up 11 percent from 2010.
This was the first season of the NCAA’s 14-year, $10.8 billion contract with CBS and Turner, which meant every game was televised nationally for the first time.
Sunday’s regional finals on CBS earned a 7.6 rating and 16 share, the same as 2010.
CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said: “As far as I’m concerned, I think everything turned out even better than I thought it was going to.”
Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program.
Shares represent the percentage of all homes with TVs in use at the time.
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