By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Monday, March 21, 2016
Every year, Atlanta-based truTV joins other Turner networks airing NCAA first-round basketball games. Sports is a bit outside its typical fare such as "Impractical Jokers," "The Carbonaro Effect" and Those Who Can't," but the network will take the ratings boost.
This basketball-oriented Twitter Pick Six Previews feed mocked TruTV's ratings when the NCAA is not airing:
TruTV's response?
TruTV said in a follow-up Tweet the chart Pick Six showed search terms, not ratings, which don't spike to that degree during NCAA week.
The week of March 7, 2016, before the NCAA games, truTV's average audience during prime time was 378,000. That's ranked 46th among basic cable networks between sister station HLN and National Geographic. Last Friday's NCAA evening game between Holy Cross and Oregon on truTV drew 651,000, followed by the hotter Cincinnati/St. Joseph game, which brought in 916,000 viewers.
So yes, NCAA games draw more than typical truTV fare but not to the degree shown on the chart Pick Six used.
A truTV spokesperson released this statement:
"In our enthusiasm, we may have gotten swept up in the madness with that one response...but let's be honest: they were kind of asking for it."
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