March Madness Good for CBS

CBS dominated Friday with the second night of NCAA hoops tournament play; 3-hour coverage scored a 1.2 demo rating and 4.46 million viewers. Early morning stats showed a 10% drop from 8-11 PM in metered market household ratings compared to year ago, but those very early stats are subject to significant adjustments later in day.

The shocking game that did not air on CBS didn’t help the numbers, as TNT showed 16th-seeded University of Maryland-Baltimore County’s win over top-seeded Virginia.

Upsets may be good for the moment, but can hurt ratings in the next rounds when the Blue Bloods are eliminated.