2017 NCAA TOURNAMENT IS MOST VIEWED IN 24 YEARS, RATINGS UP 10 PERCENT FROM 2016

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Rob GoldbergFeatured ColumnistMarch 20, 2017

An exciting first weekend of the NCAA tournament led to great ratings across the board.

According to NCAA.com, an average of 9.3 million viewers watched games on television through the first four full days of action, up 10 percent from 2016. This was the most in 24 years of coverage.

Live streams also accounted for 69.1 million views, which was not only an all-time record but also up 24 percent from last year.

The 32 first-round games and 16 second-round games were shown across CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV.

While the opening two days featured relatively few upsets compared to past years, Round 2 featured No. 1 Villanova, No. 2 Louisville and No. 2 Duke all going down in surprising fashion. Major programs like North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA were also in action Sunday, which featured the highest ratings.