Thursday's Regional Semi-Finals Also Score Highest Rating in 17 Years,

+15%, and Deliver 12 Million Total Viewers, +14% Over 2010

Turner Sports' and CBS Sports' exclusive live coverage of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship across CBS, TBS TNT and truTV combined to deliver the most total viewers in 17 years (1994) with 8.8 million total viewers, +13% over CBS Sports' 7.8 million total viewers in 2010. 

The overall tournament average-to-date, including the FIRST FOUR®, is a 5.7 U.S. HH rating/13 share, +14% from a 5.0 U.S. HH rating/11 share for CBS Sports' 2010 coverage according to Nielsen Fast Nationals.

Coverage of the regional semi-finals on CBS and TBS on Thursday, March 24 combined to deliver a household rating/share of 7.6 U.S. HH rating/14 share, +15% from a 6.6 U.S. HH rating/12 share for CBS Sports' 2010 coverage. The networks also averaged 12 million total viewers, +14% over CBS Sports' 10.5 million total viewers in 2010. 

The 7.6 U.S. HH rating/14 share was the highest rating for the Thursday regional semi-finals since an 8.2 U.S. HH rating/16 share in 17 years (1994).

The first telecast window of the night combined to earn a 7.4 U.S. HH rating/14 share, +23% from a 6.0 U.S. HH rating/11 share last year.

The second window of the night delivered a 7.8 U.S. HH rating/15 share, +10% from a 7.1 U.S. HH rating /13 share last year.

The overall tournament average-to-date continues to deliver double-digit growth in key adult and male demos over 2010, including:

• A18-34   +36%   (2,308 vs. 1,698)
• A18-49   +17%   (4,182 vs. 3,584)
• A25-54   +13%   (4,290 vs. 3,792)
• M18-34   +38%   (1,563 vs. 1,129)
• M18-49   +21%   (2,957 vs. 2,441)
• M25-54   +19%   (3,058 vs. 2,573)

Source:  Nielsen Media Research, based on Fast National Data, Live +SD data stream.  2011 NCAA Tournament Dates, include First Four telecast gross.  Dates of NCAA Tournament:  2011 3/15/11 - 3/24/11 vs 2010 3/18/10 - 3/25/10.  2011 averages based on weighted average of 4 telecast gross across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.  Dates of the NCAA Tournament historical audiences, CBS 1994 through 2005 based on Live data.  2006 through 2010 based on Live + SD.  2003 based on CBS / ESPN average of First Round. 

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CONTACTS:

Sal Petruzzi                   Turner Sports    212-275-6897                sal.petruzzi@turner.com            

Jeff Pomeroy                Turner Sports    404-827-4786                jeff.pomeroy@turner.com

Jennifer Sabatelle          CBS Sports       212-975-4120                jsabatelle@cbs.com

Jerry Caraccioli             CBS Sports       212-975-7466                gwcaraccioli@cbs.com