NBC had a slight dip in viewership for NHL action last weekend. In other news, NBCSN scored one of its top NHL audiences of the season on Wednesday, and the Cubs’ season opener delivered higher ratings in Chicago.
Modest Decline For Last Week’s Bruins/’Hawks on NBC
- Last Sunday’s Bruins/Blackhawks NHL regular season game pulled a 0.9 final rating and 1.4 million viewers on NBC, flat in ratings and down 7% in viewership from Penguins/Flyers last year (0.9, 1.5M) and up 29% and 32%, respectively, from Blackhawks/Blues in 2014 (0.7, 1.0M). (via Sports Business Daily)
Wings/Flyers Nears Season-High on NBCSN
- Red Wings/Flyers scored a 0.5 final rating and 816,000 viewers on NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivalry, up 67% in ratings and viewership from Bruins/Capitals last year (0.3, 488K) and the network’s third-largest NHL audience of the season. Blackhawks/Rangers on Opening Night (925K) and Red Wings/Blackhawks in March (848K) hold the top two spots. NBCSN’s other games last week did not fare nearly as well. Bruins/Red Wings had 266,000 on Thursday (-23%), Rangers/Lightning 183,000 on Tuesday (-57%), and Avalanche/Blues 236,000 last Sunday (-67%). (via Programming Insider, ShowBuzz Daily [1], [2], [3])
Frozen Four Mixed on ESPN2
- North Dakota/Denver in the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four drew 361,000 viewers on ESPN2 Thursday, up 25% from Boston University/North Dakota last year (290K) but down 22% from Minnesota/North Dakota in 2014 (461K). Earlier in the day, Quinnipiac/Boston College had 138,000 — down 30% from Providence/Omaha last year (196K) and down 34% from Union/Boston College in ’14 (208K). (via Sports TV Ratings)
