Despite a weaker lead-in and nontraditional teams, the NHL Western Conference final posted an uptick on NBC Saturday night.
Saturday’s Predators-Ducks NHL Western Conference final Game 5 earned a 1.8 overnight rating on NBC, up a tick from Sharks-Blues Game 4 in the same post-Preakness window last year (1.7) but down 18% from Ducks-Blackhawks Game 4 in 2015 (2.2). Overnights for last year’s Game 5, which aired on NBCSN, were not available.
The uptick came despite a 21% decline for its lead-in, The Preakness Stakes.
Head-to-head, Nashville’s win edged competing Major League Baseball coverage on FOX (1.6). Overnights for the concurrent Warriors-Spurs NBA playoff game on ESPN were not available.
Shifting to the Eastern Conference, Senators-Penguins Game 5 scored a 1.5 overnight on NBC Sunday afternoon — even with Lightning-Penguins last year and up 15% from Lightning-Rangers in 2015 (1.3), both of which aired on NBCSN in primetime. Game 4 on Friday night had a 0.9 final rating and 1.55 million viewers on NBCSN, flat in ratings and down 1% in viewership from Penguins-Lightning (0.9, 1.56M) and flat and up 1% respectively from Rangers-Lightning (0.9, 1.54M).
(Wknd. numbers from NBC Sports, Sports Business Daily 5.22, Programming Insider 5.22)
