The 2011 NHL All-Star Game hit seven-year highs in both ratings and viewership, as Versus earned its best numbers ever for the league’s midseason classic.
Sunday’s NHL All-Star Game drew a 0.8 U.S. rating and 1.481 million viewers on Versus, up 33% in ratings and 36% in viewership from 2009 (0.6, 1.087M), and up 60% and 74%, respectively, from 2008 (0.5, 852K).
There was no All-Star Game last season due to the Winter Olympics.
This marks the highest rated, most-viewed NHL All-Star Game ever on Versus, and the top NHL All-Star Game since ABC last aired the event in 2004 (1.8, 2.681M).
Ratings in the key male demographics rose by double-digits, including increases by over a third among men 18-34 and 25-54.
Of course, the NHL All-Star Game drew a tiny fraction of audience that Sunday’s NFL Pro Bowl earned on broadcast network FOX (7.7, 13.406M).
That said, while the Pro Bowl drew an audience 33% lower than the regular season NFL average on FOX (20.1M), the NHL All-Star Game improved on Versus’ regular season viewership by 390%. In other words, the Pro Bowl was a dud relative to the NFL, while the NHL All-Star Game was a hit relative to the NHL.
The All-Star Game helped Versus rank #1 among all cable networks in several Top 20 markets Sunday, including Chicago (#3), Philadelphia (#4), Boston (#7) and Detroit (#11).
Saturday’s SuperSkills competition drew a 0.7 U.S. rating and 1.183 million viewers. For more details on that telecast, as well as the NHL Fantasy Draft on Friday, click here.
(Versus)
