Ratings and viewership for the NHL Winter Classic dropped from last year, but remained on par compared to the last time the game aired in the afternoon.
The 2012 Rangers/Flyers NHL Winter Classic earned a 2.1 final rating and 3.74 million viewers on NBC Monday afternoon, down 9% in ratings and 17% in viewership from last year (WSH/PIT: 2.3, 4.525M), and flat and up 2%, respectively, compared to 2010 (PHI/BOS: 2.1, 3.684M).
Last year’s game aired on New Year’s Day and was pushed from 1 PM ET to 8 PM due to weather concerns. This year’s game, which aired on January 2 to avoid NFL action, was originally slated to air at 1 PM, but was delayed to 3 PM due to weather.
The Rangers’ win is tied as the lowest rated Winter Classic ever (five telecasts), and ranks as the second-least viewed. That said, the game still performed quite well compared to typical regular season NHL action, ranking as the league’s fifth-most viewed regular season telecast since 1975.
Philadelphia led all markets with an 11.9 rating, up 98% from the Flyers’ appearance in the 2010 game (6.0). Buffalo (7.8), Boston (5.1), Pittsburgh (4.4) and New York and Washington, D.C. (tie — 4.3) rounded out the top five.
(Monday’s numbers from NBC Sports Group press release via Puck the Media)
