Only once in the past 20 years has the Stanley Cup Final averaged a larger audience than this year.
The six-game Blackhawks/Lightning Stanley Cup Final averaged a 3.2 rating and 5.6 million viewers on NBC and NBCSN, up 7% in ratings and 11% in viewership from last year’s five-game Kings/Rangers series (5.0M) and down a tick and 4%, respectively, from the six-game Blackhawks/Bruins series in 2013 (3.3, 5.8M).
The series ranks as the second-most watched Stanley Cup Final since the event returned to broadcast television in 1995, trailing only 2013. NBC has now aired four of the six most-watched series over that span, with the Blackhawks playing in three of those four.
Viewership highlights included the fourth-largest NHL audience since 1995 (8.0 million for Game 6), the largest non-clinching audience (6.5 million for Game 2), and the fourth and fifth-largest audiences on NBCSN (3.9 million for Games 3 and 4).
Chicago was the top market for the Stanley Cup Final, averaging a 27.3 rating. Tampa-St. Petersburg ranked second with a 14.9, with Buffalo (7.1), Boston and Milwaukee (5.2 for both) rounding out the top five.
The complete Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.4 million viewers on the NBC family of networks, flat in ratings and down 1% in viewership (1.45M to 1.43M) compared to last year, but still the third-most watched playoffs since 1997 (1.5M). Only last year and 2013 (1.5M) averaged a larger audience.
(Series and postseason avg. from NBC Sports Group Press Box)
