Here is How Our Live TV March Madness Fans Watched the Tournament

By: Richard Irving, VP of Product

With Villanova and Notre Dame crowned the NCAA tournament champions, Hulu’s data science team uncovered some insights into how Hulu with Live TV viewers watched the college games- from favorite teams to most watched games to number of hours spent watching the tournament and more.

The Madness is Real – Hulu with Live TV college basketball viewership spiked 67% during the tournament compared to the regular season. The total amount of college basketball hours watched jumped 235% during the first week of the tournament.

Hulu with Live TV Viewers Didn’t Miss a Moment of the Madness – During March Madness, Hulu with Live TV viewers watched a total of 2.7M hours of live games.

Viewers Brought the Madness to Work – The first two days of the tournament took the most out of work productivity. Of the Hulu with Live TV viewers who watched March Madness that Thursday and Friday, 45% tuned into games during work between the hours of 10am and 7pm ET.

Legacy and the Passion Drove Viewers Top Picks – The Duke Blue Devils, North Carolina Tar Heels, Michigan Wolverines, Kentucky Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks were the top five most favorited teams on Hulu’s personalized March Madness experience.

– Blue blood basketball schools drove the most interest and three of the top picks include three of the Elite Eight (Duke, Michigan, Kansas).

– During the regular college basketball season, the North Carolina Tar Heels scored the most total hours watched among Hulu with Live TV viewers.

– A rivalry continued…the Kentucky Wildcats took the number one spot for the highest total hours viewed per Hulu with Live TV viewer during the regular season. Coming in as a close second was their rival, the Louisville Cardinals, who lost the battle for the most passionate fan base.

Hulu’s end-of-season top 25 (popularity of teams chosen by viewers in our March Madness experience) is:

Duke Blue Devils
North Carolina Tar Heels
Michigan Wolverines
Kentucky Wildcats
Kansas Jayhawks
Michigan State Spartans
Ohio State Buckeyes
Villanova Wildcats
Virginia Cavaliers
Alabama Crimson Tide
Arizona Wildcats
Gonzaga Bulldogs
Xavier Musketeers
Florida Gators
Purdue Boilermakers
Texas Longhorns
Oklahoma Sooners
Tennessee Volunteers
West Virginia Mountaineers
Syracuse Orange
UCLA Bruins
Miami Hurricanes
Texas A&M Aggies
Clemson Tigers
Cincinnati Bearcats

We hope you enjoyed your personalized March Madness experience on Hulu.