CBS drew 18.1 million viewers for Florida’s win over Houston in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Monday night, marking the title game’s best figure since Virginia-Texas Tech drew 19.6 million in 2019 (the year before out-of-home metrics were added by Nielsen).
Florida-Houston is up 22% from UConn-Purdue on TBS/TNT/truTV last year (14.8 million) and up from the record-low title game audience of 14.7 million on CBS in 2023 for UConn-San Diego State. Monday’s game peaked at 21.1 million viewers during the closing minutes of the game.
The three games on Final Four weekend averaged 16.4 million viewers on CBS, which is the best figure in eight years and up 21% from 2024.
The men’s tourney also averaged a combined 10.2 million viewers for all windows across CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV (not individual games), up 3% from last year. On a per-game basis, the men’s tourney averaged 4.4 million viewers, up 6% from last year.
March Madness social media handles also had a record-breaking night on Monday, with engagements up 11% and video views up 23%. For the full event, March Madness social handles had the best men’s tourney yet, with a gain of 22% from last year.
