A record-setting NBA game checked the Stanley Cup Final into the glass Monday night.
Game 1 of the Sharks/Penguins Stanley Cup Final scored a 2.3 final rating and 4.1 million viewers on NBC Monday night, down 30% in ratings and 26% in viewership from Blackhawks/Lightning last year (3.3, 5.5M) and down 23% and 15%, respectively, from Rangers/Kings in 2014 (3.0, 4.8M).
The Penguins’ win ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched Stanley Cup Final opener since Kings/Devils in 2012 (1.8, 2.9M). Going back further, it was the second-least watched opener since Penguins/Red Wings on VERSUS in 2008 (2.4M) and tied as the second-lowest rated over that span, matching Penguins/Red Wings on NBC in 2009.
Though low overall, Game 1 did earn the largest audience in 17 years for a Stanley Cup Final opener that did not involve an Original Six team (seven telecasts).
Keep in mind Monday’s game had unusually stiff competition from the NBA, which earned an 8.8 fast-national rating and 16.0 million viewers for Game 7 of its Western Conference Finals on TNT. It was that league’s top audience, outside of the NBA Finals, in 14 years.
Among adults 18-49, Sharks/Penguins scored a 1.4 rating — down 26% from both last year and 2014 (1.9 both years). It was the night’s top program on broadcast in the demo, but was more-than-quadrupled by the NBA’s 6.4 on TNT.
Locally, Game 1 scored a 30.9 rating in Pittsburgh — up 17% from Game 1 in 2009 (26.5) and the market’s highest NHL rating on NBC since it hosted the 2011 Winter Classic (32.0). The game had a 5.3 in the Bay Area, trailing the Warriors’ Game 7 win over the Thunder by 83% (30.9), but still the market’s second-best NHL rating on NBC.
(Mon. numbers from NBC Sports)
