Final Four

With the NCAA Basketball Tournament about to begin, broadcasters, publishers and other businesses need to be wary about potential claims arising from their use terms and logos associated with the tournament, including March Madness®, The Big Dance®, Final Four® or Elite Eight,® each of which is a federally registered trademark.

The UNC-Syracuse game posts 12.9 million total viewers across three networks, off 43% from last year. It was also down 21% from the 2014 contest.

CBS capped a strong NCAA basketball tournament with the men’s final Monday, averaging a 17.1 household rating for the championship game between Duke and Wisconsin, according to Nielsen metered-market ratings.

2014 and 2015 NCAA men’s basketball tournament games will air on TBS as yet another major sporting event jumps from broadcast. Three years ago Turner began broadcasting the first five rounds of the tournament along with CBS, but the marquee Final Four contests had remained on broadcast. Under the new arrangement, which covers 2014 and 2015, CBS will retain custody of the NCAA men’s basketball final. In 2016, TBS will televise both the Final Four and the national championship, then the three games will switch to CBS in 2017.

Local ratings in the markets of the schools in the NCAA semi-finals were huge. In fact, in Louisville, they topped those of the Super Bowl.

Saturday’s national semifinals pitting four powerhouse programs earned a 9.0 overnight rating and a 17 share, an increase of 1% over last season’s Final Four, which featured upstarts Butler and VCU along with Kentucky and eventual national champion Connecticut.