NBC continues to see increased ratings for its coverage of the NHL.
Last Sunday’s battle between Alex Ovechkin‘s Capitals and Sidney Crosby‘s Penguins drew a 0.9 final rating on NBC, up 13% from a 0.8 for the lone match-up between the teams on NBC last year.
The 0.9 rating for Penguins/Capitals was surpassed by the Tyson American Cup on NBC (1.1), Rugby on ABC (1.1), and a NASCAR Truck Series race on FOX (1.3). The only live sporting events to draw a lower rating on broadcast last weekend were two Alli Winter Dew Tour telecasts on NBC.
Through Sunday, NBC is averaging a 1.2 rating for five NHL telecasts, up 9% from a 1.1 through the same date in ’08. The 1.2 is the best average for the NHL on NBC through five games since the network began airing games in ’06.
