March Madness first round sets viewership record for third consecutive year

CBS Sports and TNT Sports are once again celebrating new record viewership for the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The networks announced on Monday that first-round viewership averaged 9.8 million viewers per window across CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV between Thursday and Friday. That figure is up 6% versus last year’s average of 9.1 million. Of course, it must be noted that this is the first year in which viewership data includes Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel measurement standards, which have generally increased audience figures for live sports compared to prior years.

CBS Sports and TNT Sports Deliver the Most-Watched NCAA Tournament First Round Opening Day Ever

🏀Thursday’s games averaged 9.8 million viewers, the best opening day on record

🏀Primetime window averaged 12.5 million viewers, the most-watched First Round window ever pic.twitter.com/loEB0p4btd

— March Madness Men’s Basketball TV (@MM_MBB_TV) March 23, 2026

It is the third consecutive year that CBS and TNT have touted record viewership for the first round of March Madness. Last year, however, was the first tournament measured with Nielsen’s expanded out-of-home viewing sample, which also boosted viewership for live sports. In 2024, the first round averaged 8.5 million viewers, which at the time was the biggest first-round audience since 2015.

Siena’s near-upset of the No. 1-seeded Duke Blue Devils was the most-watched game on an individual basis, averaging 5.43 million viewers, per data from Sports Media Watch. (CBS and TNT’s numbers combine viewership across CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV in a given window, hence the individual game figures are lower.)

Thursday’s primetime window, which featured Michigan-Howard and VCU-North Carolina, averaged 12.5 million viewers, the most-watched first-round window on record.

When including viewership from the First Four, this year’s NCAA Tournament is averaging 9.3 million viewers through the first round, up 5% versus this point last year.

With the first weekend proving to be rather chalky, things are shaping up well for CBS and TNT from a viewership standpoint. As much as people claim to love Cinderellas, it’s the blue bloods that deliver eyeballs. Marquee matchups like Duke-St. John’s and UConn-Michigan State on Friday should supercharge viewership, threatening to set even more records.