Cable keeps drawing for NCAA title as Michigan edges UConn
Michigan’s 2026 NCAA men’s basketball championship drew 18.3 million viewers (8.8 rating) across TBS, TNT, truTV and HBO Max, down modestly in rating but up in viewers from last year, making it the most-watched title game since 2019 and the second straight cable-exclusive final to rise year over year. Nielsen’s new Big Data methodology complicates year-to-year comparisons, but the broader tournament still averaged 10.9 million viewers per window, up 7% from 2025.