Despite competition from the MLB postseason, Versus opened the 2010-11 NHL season with record numbers.
Thursday’s Penguins/Flyers game drew 730,000 viewers on Versus, up 46% from Capitals/Bruins on Opening Night last year (501,000) and the most-viewed regular season NHL telecast ever on Versus.
The previous record was 622,000 viewers for Penguins/Red Wings in March of this year.
To put the numbers in perspective, only two regular season telecasts on Versus even topped 500,000 viewers last season — the aforementioned Capitals/Bruins and Penguins/Red Wings games.
In the nightcap, Blackhawks/Avalanche drew 430,000 viewers, up 30% from Sharks/Avalanche last year (332,000), and the network’s most-viewed regular season game to start after 9 PM ET.
(Versus)
