2024 NCAA Women's Championship Blows Away Ratings Records, Is Most Watched Hoops Broadcast of Any Kind Since 2019 The audience was up 90% year-over-year and 289% from 2022 and is the most-watched basketball game (college or pro, men's or women's) in five years. By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Tuesday, April 9, 2024 - 2:32 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
With final Nielsen reporting completed, Sunday's epic title bout between No. 1 women's seeds Iowa and South Carolina scored 18.9 million viewers, becoming the most-viewed women's college basketball game ever and ESPN platforms' most-viewed college basketball game (men's or women's) on record. The showdown peaked at 24.1 million viewers in the game's final 15 minutes as South Carolina stormed to their second NCAA trophy in three years.
The NCAA Women's Basketball Championship is now the second most-watched non-Olympic women's sporting event ever on U.S. television behind the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final between the U.S. and Japan. Sunday's Championship clash between the Hawkeyes and Gamecocks is the most-watched annual sporting event - excluding football - across all networks since 2019. The audience was up 90% year-over-year and 289% from 2022 and is the most-watched basketball game (college or pro, men's or women's) in five years.
Leading into the history-making matchup, the one-hour NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Special delivered 2.9 million viewers. ESPN's post-game studio programming averaged 1.4 million viewers as the Gamecocks lifted the NCAA trophy and cut down the nets in Cleveland. SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt immediately following the National Semifinals drew 6.3 million viewers, the most-viewed SVP edition of SportsCenter on record.
The fan-favorite Bird & Taurasi Show Presented by AT&T recorded the largest championship game audience in its three-year history with 1.4 million viewers on ESPN. The offering is the second most-watched alternate telecast for a college event on ESPN platforms, just behind Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show from the 2024 Rose Bowl Game.
The three-game 2024 NCAA Women's Final Four in Cleveland was the most-viewed Women's Final Four on record, averaging 13.8 million viewers. The trio of games was up 114% year-over-year and 299% higher than 2022.
The National Semifinals notched 11 million viewers, the most watched on record. Friday's matchups were up 142% year-over-year and 307% from 2022. Iowa-UConn finished with 14.4 million viewers, the second most-watched women's college basketball game on record and ESPN's most-watched basketball game (college or pro, men's or women's) on record. The high-octane showdown between the Hawkeyes and Huskies peaked at 17.3 million viewers and is also the most-watched college event ever on ESPN+. The late semifinal was up 156% over 2023's late semifinal between Iowa and South Carolina. The early semifinal featuring NC State and South Carolina finished with 7.2 million viewers, the most-watched early National Semifinal on record and an increase of 108% year-over-year. The Clash of the Carolinas peaked with 9.1 million viewers.
A complete look at the viewership records set across ESPN platforms during NCAA Women's March Madness and the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship will be released on Wednesday.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
30/09/2026
Schibsted Media, one of Norways largest and most influential digital media publishers and content producers, has invested in mixers and digital signal processor...
30/09/2026
Big Blue Marble announces the addition of live multiview channels to Cloud Video Kit, its broadcast-grade video processing platform. The feature is powered by A...
30/09/2026
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Telekom Slovenije, Slovenia's largest provider of telecommunications and TV services, is open...
30/09/2026
PODCAST EXPO 2026 Recorded Using Blackmagic Design Workflow
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Conference featuring 24 sessions over two days ...
30/09/2026
IBC2026 Show Report
David Kirk September 29, 2026
0 Comments
The International Broadcasting Convention has long been Europe's equivalent of the US...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Mavis has launched Mavis Camera 8.2, the latest release of its professional camera app for the iPhone and iPad. This update brings support for iPhone 18 Pro and...
29/09/2026
Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...
29/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...
29/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...
29/09/2026
Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...
29/09/2026
FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...
29/09/2026
Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...
29/09/2026
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...
29/09/2026
REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...
29/09/2026
Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...
29/09/2026
NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...
29/09/2026
19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary
LOS ...
29/09/2026
Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles
Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...
29/09/2026
All-in-one bus processor revealed
Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...
29/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...
29/09/2026
Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...
29/09/2026
Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...
29/09/2026
Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...
29/09/2026
Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Clear-Com announced that First Baptist Nashville has upgraded its production communications with a Clear-Com intercom solution as part of a comprehensive sanct...
29/09/2026
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch
Brie Clayton September 28, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's portable design and dynamic range...
29/09/2026
Kean Production Services Deploys AJA ColorBox to Deliver Consistent, Accurate Co...
29/09/2026
Berklee Alumni and Faculty Nominated for the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards A total of 28 Berklee alumni and faculty earned nominations across 20 categories this ye...
29/09/2026
Berklee's K-Pop & Beyond Explores Connections Between K-Pop and Hip-Hop Now in its fifth year, the series brings together artists, industry leaders, and s...
29/09/2026
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN, OR AT ANY ADDRESS IN, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ITS TERRITO...
29/09/2026
We tend to think we live in a digital world, with hopes and fears around artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, data centres and the next big technolo...
2024 NCAA Women's Championship Blows Away Ratings Records, Is Most Watched Hoops Broadcast of Any Kind Since 2019 The audience was up 90% year-over-year and 289% from 2022 and is the most-watched basketball game (college or pro, men's or women's) in five years. By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
