Cutting Down the Local Market Nets - Don Seaman-TVB

Defining Local Passions Key to Ratings Success

The truth is "my old Kentucky home" should be a gymnasium.

Because the people of Kentucky – at least the leading Nielsen representative of Kentucky viewing, Louisville – are about as rabid over college basketball as the people in Pittsburgh are for the NFL.

It certainly helps that Kentucky was so well represented in the tournament this year – half of the Final Four teams were from the Bluegrass State, so there were plenty of opportunities for viewing. And throughout the tournament, other Kentucky and other strong regional schools created a geographic hotspot for delivering ample basketball audiences.

The local market ratings were remarkably strong. Redefining the metaphor strong. The Final Four game that had Louisville losing to eventual champion Kentucky outdelivered the Super Bowl. That Final Four game delivered a 48.4/74 household rating/share, besting the Super Bowl's 48.1/66. The championship game, Kentucky over Kansas, surpassed them both with a 51.1/66 with Households in Louisville. You're in rarefied territory when you top the Super Bowl – you know, that event that keeps breaking its own "most watched" viewership record every year.

A quick look at all the tournament games aired in all of the markets reflects this local market fervor: of the 25 top-rated broadcasts, 11 were games that aired in the Louisville market. Four of the top five telecasts belonged to Louisville.

This can be seen in many other local markets with a strong NCAA Basketball presence, as a look at the Top 10 highest-rated markets for the Championship Game looks like a Who's Who of college basketball:

The truth is "my old Kentucky home" should be a gymnasium.

Because the people of Kentucky – at least the leading Nielsen representative of Kentucky viewing, Louisville – are about as rabid over college basketball as the people in Pittsburgh are for the NFL.

It certainly helps that Kentucky was so well represented in the tournament this year – half of the Final Four teams were from the Bluegrass State, so there were plenty of opportunities for viewing. And throughout the tournament, other Kentucky and other strong regional schools created a geographic hotspot for delivering ample basketball audiences.

The local market ratings were remarkably strong. Redefining the metaphor strong. The Final Four game that had Louisville losing to eventual champion Kentucky outdelivered the Super Bowl. That Final Four game delivered a 48.4/74 household rating/share, besting the Super Bowl's 48.1/66. The championship game, Kentucky over Kansas, surpassed them both with a 51.1/66 with Households in Louisville. You're in rarefied territory when you top the Super Bowl – you know, that event that keeps breaking its own "most watched" viewership record every year.

A quick look at all the tournament games aired in all of the markets reflects this local market fervor: of the 25 top-rated broadcasts, 11 were games that aired in the Louisville market. Four of the top five telecasts belonged to Louisville.

This can be seen in many other local markets with a strong NCAA Basketball presence, as a look at the Top 10 highest-rated markets for the Championship Game looks like a Who's Who of college basketball:

Don Seaman joined the TVB in January 2012 as Manager of Marketing Communications, where he is responsible for promoting and raising awareness of the TVB, and of Local Broadcast Television’s value propositions within the traditional and digital media industries. Don can be reached at don@tvb.org.

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