NCAA

A down-to-the-wire finish couldn’t save this year’s NCAA men’s college basketball championship game from taking an expected ratings hit as it moved to cable for the first time. Monday’s 77-74 victory by Villanova over North Carolina averaged a 12.0 overnight household rating on TBS, TNT and truTV — down about 30% from an especially high-rated game a year ago on CBS (17.1 for Duke-Wisconsin), according to Nielsen. Compared with the 2014 final between Kentucky and Connecticut (12.9), though, last night’s game was off a more modest 7%. – Rick Kissell, Variety. Read More.