• by Wayne Friedman , March 25, 2024

Through the first five days of NCAA “March Madness” averaged 9.0 million Nielsen-measured across CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV, according to the NCAA -- the best results ever for the tournament over that period. 

Thursday's first-round game average of 8.5 million viewers was up 1% from a year ago (8.4 million) -- the most-watched opening day of the first round since 2015. Friday's average was down 7% to 8.6 million viewers (second most ever for a Friday) 

Saturday's night games averaged 10.8 million, which was the best viewership for the first day of the second round ever.

The most-viewed first-round games include the Thursday upset win by Oakland over Kentucky averaging 6.2 million viewers and Friday's upset win by James Madison over Wisconsin (5.2 million).

From March 20 through March 24, total impressions for four networks were up 8% to 14.2 billion from the year before, according to EDO Ad EnGage.

Major TV advertising brands on the networks: AT&T Wireless, Geico, Progressive Insurance, GMC, Capital One, Invesco, Start Farm, Home Depot, Nissan, and Coca-Cola.