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University of Houston Athletics
Men’s Basketball Reaches 17.5 Million TV Viewers During Historic Season
4/3/2024 1:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Cougars second in Big 12 in broadcasting viewership for televised regular-season league games
HOUSTON – University of Houston Men's Basketball earned the national spotlight during its inaugural Big 12 Conference season and Sweet 16 run to the tune of 17.5 million viewers across its 25 nationally-televised broadcasts in 2023-24, according to data obtained from Sports Media Watch which tracks Nielsen-rated stations.
The Cougars drew 9.71 million viewers for their 14 nationally televised Big 12 regular-season broadcasts, second only to Kansas (13.52 million). Texas (8.0 million), Baylor (6.87 million) and TCU (4.5 million) rounded out the league's Top Five. Houston drew at least 1 million viewers four times during the regular season (at Kansas; vs. Iowa State; at Baylor; vs. Kansas) and another four times during postseason play (Phillips Big 12 Championship vs. Iowa State; NCAA Tournament vs. Longwood, Texas A&M and Duke).
#2/2 (1) Houston's Sweet 16 clash with #13/14 (4) Duke on CBS, March 29, drew 7.33 million viewers – the most of any sporting event that day. The viewership total was the second most for any Sweet 16 matchup (7.79 million; North Carolina vs. Alabama) and stood as the eighth-largest viewership among the 64 Men's NCAA Tournament games played entering this weekend's Final Four.
Houston's NCAA Tournament opener on March 22 against (16) Longwood on TNT garnered 1.06 million viewers while its back-and-forth Round of 32 overtime thriller against (9) Texas A&M on March 24 drew 4.08 million viewers – the largest viewership on TNT and its fourth-most viewed sports broadcast of the day. A combined 12.48 million fans tuned into the Cougars three NCAA Tournament matchups.
The Cougars run through the Phillips Big 12 Championship drew a combined 3.1 million viewers as part of matchups against TCU (March 14), Texas Tech (March 15) and Iowa State (March 16) with the title game earning 2.1 million viewers – the seventh-highest viewed sports broadcast of the day.
Houston appeared on national television five times during non-conference play for a combined 907,000 viewers including 242,000 viewers for the Cougars' victory over rv/rv Texas A&M as part of The Halal Guys Showcase inside the Toyota Center on Dec. 16, 2023.
SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of University of Houston Athletics by supporting LinkingCoogs – UH's very own NIL collective – and by joining Cougar Pride which provides financial support for student-athlete scholarships and priority needs of the Athletics Department.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougars on X, formerly Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at HoustonAthletics or on the team's Instagram page at houstoncougars.
The Cougars drew 9.71 million viewers for their 14 nationally televised Big 12 regular-season broadcasts, second only to Kansas (13.52 million). Texas (8.0 million), Baylor (6.87 million) and TCU (4.5 million) rounded out the league's Top Five. Houston drew at least 1 million viewers four times during the regular season (at Kansas; vs. Iowa State; at Baylor; vs. Kansas) and another four times during postseason play (Phillips Big 12 Championship vs. Iowa State; NCAA Tournament vs. Longwood, Texas A&M and Duke).
#2/2 (1) Houston's Sweet 16 clash with #13/14 (4) Duke on CBS, March 29, drew 7.33 million viewers – the most of any sporting event that day. The viewership total was the second most for any Sweet 16 matchup (7.79 million; North Carolina vs. Alabama) and stood as the eighth-largest viewership among the 64 Men's NCAA Tournament games played entering this weekend's Final Four.
Houston's NCAA Tournament opener on March 22 against (16) Longwood on TNT garnered 1.06 million viewers while its back-and-forth Round of 32 overtime thriller against (9) Texas A&M on March 24 drew 4.08 million viewers – the largest viewership on TNT and its fourth-most viewed sports broadcast of the day. A combined 12.48 million fans tuned into the Cougars three NCAA Tournament matchups.
The Cougars run through the Phillips Big 12 Championship drew a combined 3.1 million viewers as part of matchups against TCU (March 14), Texas Tech (March 15) and Iowa State (March 16) with the title game earning 2.1 million viewers – the seventh-highest viewed sports broadcast of the day.
Houston appeared on national television five times during non-conference play for a combined 907,000 viewers including 242,000 viewers for the Cougars' victory over rv/rv Texas A&M as part of The Halal Guys Showcase inside the Toyota Center on Dec. 16, 2023.
SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of University of Houston Athletics by supporting LinkingCoogs – UH's very own NIL collective – and by joining Cougar Pride which provides financial support for student-athlete scholarships and priority needs of the Athletics Department.
STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougars on X, formerly Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at HoustonAthletics or on the team's Instagram page at houstoncougars.
– UHCougars.com –
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