Without a Belmont Stakes lead-in, ratings and viewership were unsurprisingly soft for the Stanley Cup Final Saturday night.
Game 5 of the Blackhawks/Lightning Stanley Cup Final drew a 3.0 final rating and 5.3 million viewers on NBC Saturday night, down 19% in ratings and 13% in viewership from last year’s Rangers/Kings clincher (3.7, 6.0M) and down 6% and 7%, respectively, from Bruins/Blackhawks in 2013 (3.2, 5.6M).
The Blackhawks’ win was the first of the series to have a year-over-year decline, with the caveat that last year’s Game 5 aired on a Friday — a slightly better night for TV ratings.
Despite the decline, ratings and viewership were the fourth-highest for a Saturday night NHL game since Red Wings/Hurricanes Game 3 in 2002 (3.3, 5.5M). The only games with a larger audience over that span were Game 2 of this year’s series (3.9, 6.5M) and Rangers/Kings Game 2 last year (3.7, 6.4M), both of which aired after the Belmont, and the aforementioned Bruins/Blackhawks Game 5 in 2013.
Saturday’s viewership peaked at 6.7 million from 10:30-10:45 PM ET, up 23% from the Game 4 peak of 5.4 million. Keep in mind the peak audience for Game 4 was the highest ever for the Stanley Cup Final on NBCSN.
Among adults 18-49, Game 5 had a 1.7 rating — down 26% from last year (2.3) and down 11% from 2013 (1.9).
(Sat. numbers from NBC Sports; additional info from TV By the Numbers)
