The near end of the Kentucky Wildcats’ undefeated run generated strong numbers for ESPN.
Tuesday’s Kentucky/Georgia college basketball game drew 2.8 million viewers on ESPN, up 102% from Alabama/Kentucky last year (1.4M) and up 21% from Ohio State/Indiana in 2013 (2.3M). The Wildcats’ comeback victory earned the fifth-largest audience of the season on the ESPN family of networks.
Kentucky has played in five of the nine most-watched games on the ESPN networks this year, including four of the top six. No other team has as many appearances in the top ten, with Duke ranking second (four).
Kentucky has also played in the season’s most-watched game on CBS, according to Sports Business Daily — a December matchup against North Carolina that drew 2.8 million viewers. Last Saturday’s Kentucky/Arkansas game is likely to top that number.
In other action Tuesday night, Iowa/Indiana drew 1.4 million — up 37% from Michigan/Illinois last year (990K) and up 42% from Arkansas/Missouri in 2013 (956K), reports Sports Media Watch.