ESPN’s telecast of Connecticut’s 79-58 victory over Notre Dame in the NCAA Women’s National Championship on April 8 averaged a 3.1 metered market rating, making it the highest overnight rating for a women’s basketball game since 2004, a press release from the sports network in Bristol announced. The matchup between the undefeated power programs is also the fourth highest-rated NCAA Women’s National Championship on ESPN on record (beginning 2000). Fans also turned to ESPN’s digital platforms, with WatchESPN’s traditional telecast and the special ESPN3 Surround production of the matchup totaling 3,800,000 minutes, the highest amount for a women’s college basketball game on the platform this year, said ESPN. The game also generated the most minutes viewed for an ESPN3 Surround production to date. Unsurprisingly, according to ESPN, Hartford/New Haven led all markets for the telecast with a 29.3 rating, making it the market’s highest overnight for a program on cable in 2014. Nashville was the second highest-rated market with a 6.8 followed by Knoxville (6.0), Louisville (5.5), Indianapolis (4.8), Raleigh-Durham (4.7), Providence (4.6), New York (4.6), Memphis (4.5) and Greenville (4.5).
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