NCAA Tournament 2015: Ratings Revealed for First Two Days of March Madness

CBS Sports and Turner Sports combined to receive the highest television ratings ever for the first Thursday of the NCAA tournament.  

The second-round coverage, which was broadcast on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV, received an average 6.6 overnight rating, according to NCAA.com. Along with setting the new record, the number also marked a 10 percent increase over 2014, based on Nielsen metered market ratings:

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Additionally, NCAA March Madness Live delivered a record-setting first Thursday of tournament action with 22 million live video streams registering a 12 percent increase over last year.

Thursday's television coverage, which made NCAA Tournament history with five games decided by one point, showed ratings growth among the telecast windows.

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The first prime-time window received the highest overall ratings with a 7.8. The second prime-time (7.1), second daytime (6.7) and first daytime (4.6) windows followed. The second daytime window received the highest share at 16, the report stated.

Ratings were surely buoyed by a wild day of action that included several close games and a handful of upsets. No. 14 seeds UAB and Georgia State advanced during the opening window and jump-started a day worthy of the moniker March Madness.

Another record-breaking day came on Friday with 16 more games, according to the official March Madness Twitter feed:

This has been a thrilling tournament, and while Friday's games didn't provide the upsets we saw on Thursday, there were a plethora of close matchups that clearly kept fans riveted. 

That said, chaos clearly helps the television ratings.