NHL ratings consistent, tiny.

While NASCAR and the NBA saw big declines last weekend, ratings for the National Hockey League were the same as usual — which may not be such a good thing.

Last Sunday’s Flyers/Penguins game drew a 0.8/2 final rating on NBC. While there was no comparable game last year, the 0.8 rating is even with NBC’s post-Winter Classic season average. The past three NHL telecasts on NBC have each drawn a 0.8 rating, and so far this season, only one game other than the Winter Classic has drawn a 1.0 rating.

Of the fifteen non-Winter Classic regular season telecasts on NBC in the past two seasons, only one has drawn a 1.0 rating. The majority of games have drawn a 0.8 rating, with two games this season drawing a 0.9.

To put these sub-1.0 ratings in perspective, the lowest rated NBA game ever on broadcast drew a 1.0, and the lowest rated MLB telecast drew a 1.1.

While NHL ratings have always been small, it was not too long ago that ordinary regular season games were capable of drawing at least 1% of U.S. television households. For example, during the 2006-07 season, NBC drew a rating of 1.0 or higher four times, with one game drawing a 1.2 rating. During the 2005-06 season, three of NBC’s six telecasts drew a 1.0, with the network’s inaugural broadcast drawing a 1.3 — still the highest rating for a non-Winter Classic regular season game on the network.

Ratings for every NHL regular season game on NBC.
*: regional action; **: Winter Classic