Without direct competition from the NFL, NBC drew good numbers for NHL coverage on Sunday.
The Penguins’ win over the Flyers drew a 1.3 overnight rating on NBC Sunday afternoon, up 18% from a 1.1 for the network’s third NHL telecast last season (Red Wings/Penguins, 2/8/09), and up 63% from a 0.8 for Blackhawks/Red Wings last week.
The 1.3 overnight is tied as the highest for any non-Winter Classic regular season NHL telecast since NBC’s debut NHL telecast in ’06 (1.5/3).
Over the previous two seasons, no NHL telecast on NBC had drawn an overnight higher than 1.1 (again, excluding the Winter Classic).
