Ratings by the quarter-hour for Game 3 of the Lakers/Magic NBA Finals and Game 6 of the Red Wings/Penguins Stanley Cup Final, both of which took place on Tuesday night.
The NBA more than doubled the ratings of the NHL, winning the head-to-head battle by 153% — Game 3 of the NBA Finals drew an 8.6/15 rating on ABC, while Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals drew a 3.4/6 on NBC.
The gap in average viewers was nearly as large, as the NBA drew 14.2 million viewers, 145% more than the 5.8 million who tuned into the NHL.
From 9:15-10:30 PM, when the NBA and NHL aired directly opposite each other, the NBA drew a 7.5 rating and the NHL drew a 3.6.
The head-to-head matchup did not have much of a negative effect in the ratings for either the NBA or NHL. While both games were down from the comparable games last year, they also marked the highest rated games of the season for either league.
Ratings by the quarter-hour for the NBA and NHL on Tuesday night.
*: from 9:02-9:15 PM; **: from 10:30-10:38; ***: from 12:00-12:04 AM
