An NHL final four featuring Anaheim, Nashville and Ottawa is putting up surprisingly healthy numbers.
Saturday’s Senators-Penguins NHL Eastern Conference final Game 1 earned 2.9 million viewers on the NBC broadcast network, up 68% from Lightning-Penguins on NBCSN last year (1.7M) and up 55% from Lightning-Rangers on NBC in 2015, which aired in the afternoon (1.9M). Ratings increased 70% year-over-year (from 0.97 to 1.65).
The Senators’ OT win was the most-watched NHL conference final opener since Penguins-Bruins in 2013, the previous Game 1 to air on primetime broadcast television (3.4M). Including streaming viewership on NBC Sports digital platforms, the game had 2.9 million.
Game 2 of the series scored 1.7 million on NBCSN Monday night, up 2% from Lightning-Penguins last year (1.7M) but down 7% from Lightning-Rangers in ’15 (1.9M). Ratings were not immediately available for the Penguins’ series-tying win.
Locally, Game 1 had a 22.6 rating in Pittsburgh (+26%) and Game 2 a 24.6. For the latter game, last year’s comparable figures were unavailable.
In the Western Conference, Sunday’s Predators-Ducks Game 2 had a 0.8 rating and 1.3 million viewers on NBCSN — up a tick in ratings and 14% in viewership from Sharks-Blues last year (0.7, 1.1M) but down 20% and 24% respectively from Blackhawks-Ducks in ’15 (1.0, 1.7M). It was a big rebound from Game 1, which fell 48% to a five-year conference final low of 856,000.
The game had a 10.9 rating in Nashville, the market’s highest ever for an NHL game on the NBC networks.
Through Monday, coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs has averaged 1.0 million viewers across NBC’s TV and digital platforms, up 7% from last year (958K).
(Numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 5.16, NBC Sports Group Press Box 5.16)
