After a strong start to the postseason, the NHL’s momentum has stalled in the Conference Finals.
Game 4 of the Rangers/Devils NHL Eastern Conference final drew 1.259 million viewers on NBC Sports Network Monday night, down 34% from Bruins/Lightning Game 4 on the NBC broadcast network last year (1.913M), and down 40% from Flyers/Canadiens Game 4 on NBC in 2010 (2.108M).
Every game of the Rangers/Devils series on NBC Sports Network has suffered a double-digit decline compared to last year.
While the Rangers/Devils series includes high-profile brand-name teams, it would seem likely that having only one market involved has adversely affected the numbers. The Rangers/Capitals and Devils/Flyers second round series routinely drew better numbers than the Rangers/Devils conference final.
CORRECTION 5/24: An earlier edition of this post incorrectly compared Monday’s Game 4 numbers to previous Game 5s.
(Monday’s numbers from TV By the Numbers)
