(Bloomberg) -- 14 percent.
That's how much CBS's ratings for the NCAA Tournament championship game declined from two years ago, the last time the network aired the final.
The University of Virginia took Texas Tech into overtime before pulling away to win 85-77 on Monday night. But the close matchup failed to attract a larger audience.
This year's title game suffered from a lack of big-name programs and featured two teams known more for their defense than their offense. The game registered a 12.4 overnight rating. That was up 20 percent from last year's title, which aired on cable, but significantly lower than the last time it was on CBS.
Under the NCAA's current TV deal, the title game alternates between broadcast TV (CBS) and cable (Turner's family of TNT, TBS and TruTV). Last year's game on Turner, for example, posted the lowest overnight rating ever for a title game. This year's was the lowest for a CBS championship since 2012, a span of six broadcasts.
Previous Numbers of the Day
| April 8: $13.9 million |
| April 5: $620 |
| April 4: $362.6 million |
| April 3: 11x |
| April 2: $500 |
| April 1: $37.8 million |
| March 29: $1,013,203 |
| March 28: 11 percent |
| March 27: $300,000 |
| March 26: 6.4 |
| March 25: $225,000 |
| March 22: $8.5 billion |
| March 21: $7.4 million |
To contact the reporter on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net
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