A quartet of No. 1 seeds led CBS to the most-watched Final Four since 2017.
Saturday’s pair of games averaged 15.3 million viewers on CBS, the most-watched iteration of the men’s Final Four in eight years. The two-game average increased 19% versus last year’s Final Four which aired across the TNT Sports family of networks. Viewership peaked at an audience of 20.4 million Saturday night.
Final Four scores 15.3 million viewers on CBS, the most-watched since 2017.
Coverage peaked with 20.4 million viewers.
*Numbers expected to increase when Final data is available on Tuesday pic.twitter.com/sri6P5REyi
— March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) April 6, 2025
Leading the way was Houston’s thrilling comeback win over Duke, which averaged 16 million viewers in the late window on CBS. The game, which tipped off after 9 p.m. ET, increased 13% over last year’s UConn-Alabama, which averaged 14.12 million viewers across the TNT Sports family of networks. The Cougars’ win was the most-watched game of the NCAA Tournament so far.
Florida’s win over Auburn in the early window averaged 14.6 million viewers on CBS, the most-watched early-window Final Four game since 2017. The Gators’ six-point win over the Tigers increased by 27% over last year’s Purdue-NC State game on the TNT Sports networks (11.45 million viewers).
Saturday’s strong Final Four deliveries have total NCAA Tournament viewing up 2% year-over-year across CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV. The men’s tournament is now averaging 9.9 million viewers per window.
The eight-year high should also dispel any notion that college basketball is in dire straights as a viewership draw. Despite claims that the lack of Cinderellas would hurt viewership for the tournament, the data continually shows that the best teams deliver the largest audiences.
It should be noted that these figures are based on Nielsen’s fast national measurements with expanded out-of-home viewing included. CBS expects these figures will increase once final measurements are released on Tuesday.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.