• by Wayne Friedman , March 28, 2011

Although comparisons are difficult, CBS Sports and Turner Sports say the big NCAA Men's Basketball event has seen its best results in six years.

Overall, total average viewers in the tournament are up 11% to a Nielsen preliminary 9.4 million from 8.5 million a year ago.

All the games were aired complete on CBS, TBS TNT and truTV. Previously, different regions would get to see specific games, with certain live highlights of other games being filtered in. This is the first year that every one of the tournament's games will be televised -- including the so-called "First Four" pre-event series of games that start before the traditional 64 teams go into action.

This higher viewer trend continued through the regional finals -- the so-called "Elite 8" games held on Sunday. Viewership peaked up to 12.6 million, a 6% rise from 11.9 million a year ago. These results are also the highest since 2005.

Preliminary results from Sunday's afternoon/early evening contests easily gave CBS the win for the night -- as well as lifting up the rest of its prime-time lineup.

Winning its time period in all major categories, "60 Minutes" at 7:30 p.m. pulled in a Nielsen preliminary 13.73 million viewers and a 3.0/9 in adults 18-49. "The Amazing Race" at 8:30 p.m. had 8% more viewers versus the week before to 10.92 million, and 14% more adults 18-49 to a 3.2/9.

At 9:30 p.m., "Undercover Boss" was up a bit to 11.70 million homes and gained 11% in adults 18-49 to a 2.8/7. At 10:30 p.m., "CSI: Miami" grabbed 10.58 million viewers and a 2.6/08 in adults 18-49.

CBS was first in 18-49 viewers for the third consecutive Sunday with a 3.2/9.

While CBS had its way in prime time, NBC made some headway, improving 7% with "Celebrity Apprentice" from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. It also helped that Fox and ABC were mostly in reruns later in the evening. The show earned a 3.0/8 for a two-hour airing.

Earlier in the evening, ABC did well at 8 p.m. with "Secret Millionaire" up 8% and a 2.7/7. Some of Fox's animated comedies -- those airing originals -- did well. Fox's "The Simpsons" rose 12% to a 2.8/8; "American Dad" was up 25% to a 2.5/7.

After CBS among 18-49 viewers, Fox came in at second place with a 2.2/6, followed by NBC at a 2.0/6, ABC with a 1.4/4, and Univision with a 1.0/3.