NCAA Tournament scores big on opening weekend with highest TV ratings in 22 years.

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Duke\'s Jahlil Okafor (15) and San Diego State\'s Skylar Spencer (0) chase the ball during the second half of an NCAA tournament college basketball game in the Round of 32 in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, March 22, 2015. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament drew the highest ratings in 22 years for CBS Sports and Turner Sports.

The networks announced Monday that the weekend’s third-round coverage of the NCAA Tournament across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV delivered a 7.3/16 overnight rating/share. That’s a 7 per cent increase from last year.

The four days of the men’s tournament through Sunday also had the highest overnight ratings for CBS Sports and Turner Sports, averaging a 6.7/14 overnight rating/share.

Those numbers are the best since the tournament expanded to its current television format in 1991. The overnight rating increased 6 per cent from 2014.

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