The Penguins’ second-straight coronation was a much stronger draw than last year.
Sunday’s Penguins-Predators Stanley Cup Final Game 6 earned a 3.9 final rating and 7.0 million viewers, up 26% in ratings and 29% in viewership from Penguins-Sharks last year (3.1, 5.4M) but down 11% and 13% respectively from Lightning-Blackhawks in 2015 (4.4, 8.0M).
The Penguins’ title-clinching win, which peaked with 9.4 million viewers from 10:45-11 PM ET, delivered the fourth-largest Game 6 audience since the Stanley Cup Final returned to broadcast TV in 1995. Blackhawks-Flyers in 2010 holds the top spot (8.5M), followed by Blackhawks-Bruins in 2013 (8.2M) and Blackhawks-Lightning in 2015 (8.0M).
Regardless of game, it was the seventh-most watched NHL game since the league returned to broadcast in ’95 — behind the aforementioned Blackhawks games and Game 7 of Bruins-Canucks in 2011 (8.5M), Penguins-Red Wings in 2009 (8.0M) and Mighty Ducks-Devils in 2003 (7.2M).
Game 6 had a streaming audience of 101,000 viewers on NBC Sports digital platforms, up 47% from last year and an NHL record. Including the streaming audience, the game had 7.1 million viewers — still the fourth-best Game 6 audience and seventh-best overall since 1995.
The game earned a 2.3 rating in adults 18-49, up 21% from last year (1.9) but down 18% from 2015 (2.8). It had a 1.8 in adults 18-34 (+13%). In both demos, it was easily the day’s top television program on any network.
[Sun. numbers via NBC Sports PR 6.12, with additional info from ShowBuzz Daily 6.13]
