Not only that, but Gotham was a repeat.
So did you catch any of the dynasty in the making? Did you see any of the coronation? Did you watch UConn win a ring for the last finger on its hands.
Turns out, you were in rare company.
Like an old episode of Glee, people seem to be tiring of the familiar. According to ratings, a dwindling TV crowd watched the UConn-Notre Dame game in Tampa last week.
At a time that women’s basketball is supposed to be growing, that has to be somewhat of a disappointment. Viewership was the lowest TV crowd in six years, down a whopping 28 percent from the same game last year. It was down 4 percent from UConn’s title the year before.
Is it Geno Auriemma winning his 10th title? Are fans fatigued from watching UConn? Was it that the game was a rematch of the old standby of the Huskies against Notre Dame? Was it that most people figured UConn would win?
The good news was that semifinal games were both up in viewership (one by 4 percent, one by 12 percent). Maybe it’s because Tom Cruise took in the game.
Of course, the TV ratings have almost nothing to do with where a game is played. Still, it’s a sobering number.
Viewership for the men’s tournament was up 8 percent, and the Duke-Wisconsin title game was up 33 percent. Perhaps that hurt the women’s viewership as well. Perhaps people weren’t ready to see both.
Regardless, it was the third-least watched telecast since the tournament started being broadcast 20 years ago. When an audience reduces itself by more than a quarter, it’s a statement.
