College hoops ratings got an NFL boost for a second-straight week. In other news, the NHL has been a mixed bag for NBC Sports in recent days, and Blackhawks ratings are trending behind last year’s low.
NFL Boosts CBS College Hoops Ratings Again
In other action, Michigan-Michigan State drew a 1.1 and 1.6 million on FOX Saturday — up 120% in ratings and 111% in viewership from UConn-Georgetown last year (0.5, 764K). It easily topped Florida-Mississippi on CBS (0.7, 964K) and Kansas State-Kansas on ESPN (0.8, 1.2M) head-to-head.
Shifting to ESPN, Kansas-West Virginia scored 1.5 million on Big Monday — up 27% from last year (Kansas-ISU: 1.2M) but down 9% from 2016 (Oklahoma-ISU: 1.6M). Duke-Miami had 1.3 million earlier in the night (+5%). On Super Tuesday, Kentucky-South Carolina had 1.2 million (+1%) and Wisconsin-Purdue 727,000 (-44%).
Recent NHL Ratings Down on NBC, Up on NBCSN
Later in the night, Rangers-Penguins had a 0.26 (+24%) and 494,000 (+12%) on NBCSN. Last year’s comparable game faced the NFL playoffs. NBCSN’s first two Sunday night games this season have increased double-digits (Bruins-Penguins the previous week increased 86% to 533,000).
On Wednesday night, Canadiens-Bruins had 454,000 on NBCSN — up 2% from Bruins-Red Wings last year (447K) and up 10% from Blues-Red Wings in 2016 (411K). It snapped a six-week streak of declines for Wednesday Night Rivalry. The Penguins-Ducks nightcap had 192,000 (+3%).
Modest Decline in Blackhawks Ratings
Despite the decline, the Blackhawks are outperforming the moribund Bulls by 44% (2.03). That gap has actually narrowed from 69% at the end of last season (3.35 to 1.98).
