The NHL regular season ended on a historically low note last weekend. In other news, Major League Baseball on FOX continued to stumble out of the gate, and the PGA Tour Zurich Classic suffered double-digit declines on CBS.
NBC’s NHL Finale Sets Likely Record Low
- Last Saturday’s Devils/Rangers NHL regular season game drew a 0.4 final rating and 565,000 viewers on NBC, quite possibly the lowest rating ever for a major professional sports league on broadcast television. The 0.4 is certainly the lowest for the NHL on NBC since the network resumed airing games in 2006; the previous low was a 0.5. Five of the final seven NHL telecasts on NBC this season earned fewer than one million viewers, including the last four. (Weekend numbers from Sports Business Daily)
MLB Continues Mediocre Start on FOX
- Regional Major League Baseball action featuring Braves/Tigers earned a 1.5 final rating and 2.0 million viewers on FOX last Saturday, marking the fourth straight week the network has failed to earn at least a 2.0 rating for MLB action. Comparisons to last year were not available. On Sunday, ESPN drew a 1.5 and 2.1 million for a Braves/Tigers “Sunday Night Baseball” game. (Sports Business Daily, Son of the Bronx)
Double-Digit Declines For Zurich Classic
- Final round coverage of the PGA Tour Zurich Classic of New Orleans earned a 1.7 final rating on CBS last Sunday, down 15% from last year (2.0), and down 11% from 2011 (1.9). The 1.7 is the lowest for final round coverage since 2010 (1.3). On Saturday, third round action earned a 1.0 final rating — down 17% from last year (1.2), and down a tick from 2011 (1.1). (Weekend numbers from Sports Business Daily)
