The NHL’s second round opened with mixed results Wednesday. In other news, the Capitals’ first round series posted a double-digit increase locally, and the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry put up solid numbers on ESPN.
Mixed Start For NHL Second Round
- Wednesay’s Predators-Blues Stanley Cup Playoffs Game 1 earned a 0.6 final rating and 985,000 viewers on NBCSN, up a tick in ratings and 27% in viewership from Islanders-Lightning last year (0.5, 775K) and flat and up 1% respectively from Game 7 of a Red Wings-Lightning first round series in 2015 (0.6, 978K). Oilers-Ducks Game 1 had 545,000 later in the night, down 13% from a Predators-Ducks first round Game 7 last year (624K) and the smallest second round Game 1 audience since the last time Anaheim faced a Canadian team — Flames-Ducks two years ago (479K).
Capitals First Round Ratings Up
- The Capitals-Maple Leafs first round NHL playoff series averaged a 4.86 rating in Washington D.C. market on NBCSN and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, up 14% from last year’s Capitals-Flyers series. Game 6 had a 6.24 across the two networks, the team’s sixth-highest rating on record and third-highest on cable.
Yanks-Sox Solid on ESPN
- Yankees-Red Sox delivered 692,000 viewers on ESPN’s Wednesday Night Baseball last night, up 13% from Yankees-Rangers last year (615K) and up a third from Phillies-Cardinals in 2015 (521K). Outside of Opening Day, it was the second-most watched weeknight game on any network this season — trailing Cardinals-Cubs on April 10 (1.8M).
CORRECTION 4/28: Capitals’ 6.24 on Sunday was not their third-highest local rating on record, but their third-highest local rating *on cable* on record.
(Numbers via Programming Insider 4.27, ShowBuzz Daily 4.27, Washington Post 4.25)
