ESPN's coverage of the 2012-13 NCAA men's basketball regular
season averaged 1.37 million viewers over 135 games, making it the net's
most-watched ever.
That surpassed the previous record, set by last year's
season with 1.35 million over 130 games. ESPN also matched last year's average
of a 1.1 coverage rating.
Individually, the most-watched game was the Feb. 2 tilt
between Indiana and Michigan, which drew 4.04 million viewers. It was also the
highest-rated with a 2.9 coverage rating. The Feb. 19 matchup between Indiana
and Michigan State was the second-most watched game with 3.73 million viewers,
followed by Duke-Miami on March 2 with 2.46 million viewers.
For the 11th straight year, Louisville was the highest-rated
metered market for ESPN's regular-season telecasts, averaging a 4.5 rating.
Greensboro (N.C.) finished in second place for the second straight year with a
3.1 rating.
ESPN's TV networks -- which include ESPN2 and
ESPNU -- combined to telecast 602 games, which averaged 508,000 viewers.
