The Stanley Cup Playoffs got off to a slower start in the Nielsens. In other news, the NCAA hockey final posted its smallest audience in years, and U.S. women’s soccer neared its top audience in months.
Slower Start For Stanley Cup Playoffs
- Wednesday’s Blue Jackets-Penguins Stanley Cup Playoffs Game 1 had 540,000 viewers on USA, down 24% from Rangers-Penguins last year (719K) and down 3% from Islanders-Capitals in 2015 (555K). Ratings were unavailable. Later in the night, Sharks-Oilers Game 1 had a 0.2 and 335,000; there was no comparable window last year. On NBCSN, Blues-Wild had a 0.3 (-25%) and 502,000 (-21%) and Rangers-Canadiens a 0.3 and 445,000 (-27%).
NCAA Hockey Final Hits Low
- Last Saturday’s Denver-Minnesota Duluth NCAA men’s hockey national championship earned 467,000 viewers on ESPN — down 14% from North Dakota-Quinnipiac on ESPN2 last year (541K) and down 26% from Providence-Boston on ESPN in 2013 (635K). It was the least-watched title game since at least 2011. Ratings also declined 14% year-over-year (0.29 to 0.25). Two nights earlier, Minnesota Duluth-Harvard had 178,000 (+29%) and Denver-Notre Dame 155,000 (-57%) on ESPN2.
USWNT Scores Second-Best Audience in Months
- Sunday’s United States-Russia women’s soccer friendly had a 0.2 final rating and 384,000 viewers on ESPN, the second-largest USWNT audience — outside of the Olympics — since their meeting with Costa Rica last July (488K). Not coincidentally, that was also their most recent match on ESPN. The only match with a larger audience over that span was against England in the SheBelieves Cup last month, which aired on the FOX broadcast network (728K).
