So much for the question of how would the new Big East fare against the ACC in the Saturday night primetime TV slot:
The ratings were:
ACC 2.3
Big East 0.3
Yikes!
Surprisingly, the Big East's final is actually down 40% from last year's Providence/Creighton final. Considering this year's ACC final was a 92% increase from last year's ESPN Big 12 final (which drew a 1.2), my guess is that a lot of East Coasters didn't care to watch the Big 12 last year and instead watched Prov/Creighton from MSG. But, now when putting the ACC up against it, the Big East had no chance. In different time slots, the Big East did far worse than even the A10 (1.2 on CBS) and the American (1.3 on ESPN). Honestly, the Big East's number was probably very similar, if not lower than the NEC Championship between RMU and SF Brooklyn.
The ACC's primtime final was only slightly higher than last year's 2.3-2.2 but it was a better TV matchup last year.
The Big Ten had the highest rated game of the week at 2.6 but its also the best timeslot for TV as a lead-in to the Selection Show. Although its great for network execs, I am more than happy to keep the ACC title game on a Saturday night as opposed to an anti-climactic lead-in to the Selection Show.
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2015/03/college-basketball-ratings-acc-championship-overnights-up-espn-trounces-big-east/
The ratings were:
ACC 2.3
Big East 0.3
Yikes!
Surprisingly, the Big East's final is actually down 40% from last year's Providence/Creighton final. Considering this year's ACC final was a 92% increase from last year's ESPN Big 12 final (which drew a 1.2), my guess is that a lot of East Coasters didn't care to watch the Big 12 last year and instead watched Prov/Creighton from MSG. But, now when putting the ACC up against it, the Big East had no chance. In different time slots, the Big East did far worse than even the A10 (1.2 on CBS) and the American (1.3 on ESPN). Honestly, the Big East's number was probably very similar, if not lower than the NEC Championship between RMU and SF Brooklyn.
The ACC's primtime final was only slightly higher than last year's 2.3-2.2 but it was a better TV matchup last year.
The Big Ten had the highest rated game of the week at 2.6 but its also the best timeslot for TV as a lead-in to the Selection Show. Although its great for network execs, I am more than happy to keep the ACC title game on a Saturday night as opposed to an anti-climactic lead-in to the Selection Show.
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2015/03/college-basketball-ratings-acc-championship-overnights-up-espn-trounces-big-east/
