ESPN: College hoops ratings up in ATL

Despite the struggles of local teams, college basketball is rallying on Atlanta television this season.

ESPN said the 93 men’s college basketball games it televised from Nov. 11 through Feb. 12 posted a 38 percent ratings increase in the Atlanta market over the games televised in the same time slots last season. The games averaged a 1.1 Nielsen rating here this season, up from 0.8 last season.

Games involving North Carolina, Duke and Kentucky fared particularly well here.

The top-rated ESPN games on Atlanta TV so far this season: North Carolina-Michigan State on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on Nov. 11 (3.7 rating); Duke-Ohio State on Nov. 29 (3.2), Duke-North Carolina on Feb. 8 (2.9) and Kentucky-Indiana on Dec. 10 (2.7).

Among the nation’s 56 largest TV markets, Atlanta is tied for 19th in the ratings for ESPN’s college basketball telecasts, up from a tie for 38th at this point last season. Louisville has posted the highest rating (4.6) among major markets by a wide margin.

The rating is the percentage of TV households tuning in on average.

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