The Stanley Cup Playoffs is off to a hot start on cable, though the lack of games on broadcast television is an issue.
The first week of the Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 672,000 viewers across ESPN, ESPN2, TNT and TBS (28 games through Sunday), down 3% from the same number of games last year. Keep in mind that five of last year’s first 28 games aired on the NBC broadcast network. Excluding those NBC broadcast network games — including a post-Preakness window that topped the two million mark — viewership is up 35%.
Saturday’s Rangers-Penguins Game 3 ranks as the highest rated and most-watched game of the playoffs thus far with a 0.6 and 1.32 million on TNT. Viewership actually increased as much as 16% from last year’s equivalent window on the NBC broadcast network (Golden Knights-Wild: 0.6, 1.14M).
The Rangers-Penguins series has been easily the biggest draw of the postseason, accounting for four of the six largest audiences — and three of the four games to exceed one million viewers. Game 4 of the series was the first to dip below the million mark with a 0.46 and 914,000 on ESPN Monday night, but still jumped double-digits from last year’s equivalent window (Islanders-Penguins Game 5: 0.39, 642K*).
The second-biggest draw of the postseason is the Hurricanes-Bruins series. Game 4 drew a series-high 0.52 and 1.02 million (+66%) on ESPN Sunday afternoon, sandwiched by a 0.40 and 739,000 for Game 3 on TNT Friday and a 0.43 and 829,000 for Game 5 on ESPN Tuesday.
Rangers-Penguins and Hurricanes-Bruins account for seven of the nine most-watched games thus far. The two exceptions are Sunday’s Maple Leafs-Lightning Game 4 on TBS (0.47, 998K) and Wild-Blues Game 4 earlier in the day (0.40, 837K).
Several other series hit highs over the first weekend of play, including Flames-Stars on TNT Saturday night (Game 3: 0.40, 791K), Panthers-Capitals on ESPN Saturday afternoon (Game 3: 0.39, 761K) and Oilers-Kings on TBS Sunday night (Game 4: 0.29, 558K).
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily, Programming Insider]
