NCAA men’s, women’s tournaments see double-digit TV gains

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are seeing double-digit viewer increases over last year. The men’s tournament is up 12% over last year. The tournament is also off to its best start in five years, averaging 9.12 million viewers through the second round. The women’s tournament is up 15% overall through the first two rounds. The second round averaged 474,000 viewers, a 25% jump from last year. Both tournaments are back to their normal setups for the first time since 2019. They were played in a bubble last year after being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.