By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Even an NCAA championship matchup between two widely acknowledged as the best men's college basketball teams in the country wasn't enough to set the television world afire.
An estimated 16.92 million people watched Baylor win the national championship title by routing previously unbeaten Gonzaga on Monday, the Nielsen company said.
That's down nearly 14% from the 2019 title game between Virginia and Texas Tech. Last year's NCAA basketball tourney was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Viewership declines are hardly unusual in today's world. Awards show ratings have been cratering. Given that this year's NCAA football championship saw its ratings plummet 27% percent, the basketball ratings weren't half bad.
This was the first men's Final Four with no teams from the Eastern time zone, where nearly half of the country's television viewers are located.
Saturday's men's semifinal — already considered a classic — where Gonzaga beat UCLA in overtime on a last-second shot was seen live by just under 15 million people.
On Sunday, the women's NCAA championship, where Stanford edged Arizona, was seen by 4.08 million people, Nielsen said.
CBS handily won in the primetime ratings last week, averaging 6.1 million viewers. ABC had 3.8 million viewers, NBC had 3.7 million, Fox had 1.8 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 940,000.
Fox News Channel led the cable networks, averaging 2.13 million viewers in primetime. TBS had 1.61 million, MSNBC had 1.59 million, ESPN had 1.42 million and HGTV had 1.16 million.
ABC's "World News Tonight" won the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.9 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 6.8 million and the "CBS Evening News" had 4.7 million.
For the week of March 29-April 4, the top 20 shows in primetime, their networks and viewerships:
1. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: UCLA vs. Gonzaga, CBS, 14.94 million.
2. "Law & Order: SVU," NBC, 8.03 million.
3. "Law & Order: Organized Crime," NBC, 7.86 million.
4. "60 Minutes," CBS, 7.66 million.
5. "Chicago Fire," NBC, 7.35 million.
6. "Chicago Med," NBC, 7.24 million.
7. "The Equalizer," CBS, 6.99 million.
8. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: UCLA vs. Michigan, TBS, 6.89 million.
9. "Young Sheldon," CBS, 6.64 million.
10. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: Arkansas vs. Baylor, CBS, 6.45 million.
11. "Chicago PD," NBC, 6.42 million.
12. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 6.21 million.
13. "The Voice" (Monday), NBC, 6.16 million.
14. "NCAA Basketball Studio Show," CBS, 6.1 million.
15. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: Oregon vs. Houston, CBS, 5.92 million.
16. "American Idol," ABC, 5.61 million.
17. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 5.55 million.
18. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: USC vs. Gonzaga, TBS, 5.4 million.
19. "Magnum, P.I.," CBS, 5.37 million.
20. "United States of Al," CBS, 5.31 million.
“Scandal” cast will reunite for online script reading for hurricane relief in western North Carolina
The cast of ABC's hit political drama "Scandal" may need to brush up on their snappy, speedy delivery known as "Scandal-pace," because they're reuniting for a good cause. Its stars including Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn and Bellamy Young will take part in a live virtual script reading on Nov. 17 to raise money for hurricane relief in western North Carolina.
Beginning Friday, fans can go online and donate to reserve a spot for the online reading. Proceeds will benefit United Way of North Carolina. Everyone who donates will be able to take part in a virtual pre-event with the cast and Shonda Rhimes will give an introduction.
Additional guest stars will also be announced. The online fundraising platform Prizeo is also holding a contest where one person who donates online via their site will be selected to read a role from the script with the actors. The winner should not worry about the "Scandal"-pace, assured Young over Zoom.
"Whomever the lucky reader is can read at whatever pace they want," she said.
Young, who played Mellie Young, the first lady and later Republican presidential nominee on "Scandal," was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. She came up with the idea for the effort with a friend and took it to her fellow "Scandal" actors, who all jumped on board. Young said this is the first script reading the cast has all done together since the show ended after seven seasons in 2018.
Which episode they will be reading has not been announced yet.
Young said it's "been devastating" to see so many parts of her hometown badly damaged by Hurricane Helene, which ravaged western North Carolina one month ago.
To research the best use for donations, Young spoke with numerous political leaders, including North... Read More