Final Four Ratings Tie Last Year

The Final Four doubleheader of March Madness attracted an average audience of 15.4 million viewers — tying last year.

"We are very pleased that this year's Final Four ratings matched last year's strong numbers which were the best in five years," Mike Aresco, CBS Sports executive vice president for programming, said in a statement. "We are excited about the championship game which features two of the most remarkable stories of the season in Connecticut and Butler."

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The first game, in which the Butler Bulldogs beat the VCU Rams, 70-62, averaged 14.2 million viewers. The second game, with the Connecticut Huskies downing the Kentucky Wildcats, 56-55, scored 16.7 million. The overall tournament — including CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV — has averaged 9.9 million total viewers, up 10 percent from last year's 9 million viewers for CBS Sports' coverage alone.

The championship game airs Monday at 9 ET/6 PT on CBS.