Aided by three outdoor games, the NBC broadcast network averaged its largest audience ever for the NHL regular season.
The 2013-14 NHL regular season averaged just under 1.7 million viewers on NBC, up 19% from last year (1.42M) and the network’s most-viewed season since it resumed airing games in 2006. The previous mark was 1.6 million viewers set in the 2010-11 season.
The network aired three outdoor games this season, each of which rank among its ten most-viewed regular season telecasts. The Maple Leafs/Red Wings Winter Classic ranks as the second-most viewed (4.4M), Penguins/Blackhawks on March 1 ranks eighth (2.8M), and Rangers/Devils on January 26 ranks ninth (2.1M).
NBCSN averaged 351,000 viewers for its coverage, down 11% from last year’s lockout-shortened slate (392K), but up 6% from the 2011-12 season (332K). This season ranks as the second-most viewed ever on NBCSN, trailing only last year.
The season’s top game on NBCSN was Capitals/Blackhawks on Opening Night (935K), which also ranks as the second-most viewed regular season game ever on the network (dates back to 2005).
