Numbers: Caps-Lightning Ratings, Yankees, Boxing

Caps-Lightning ratings surged on NBCSN Thursday; Yankees ratings are off to a hot start in May; ESPN’s Top Rank Boxing neared a 2018 high.

Caps-Lightning Ratings Up Big Thursday

Thursday’s Lightning-Capitals NHL Eastern Conference Final Game 4 earned a 1.2 rating and 2.05 million viewers on NBCSN, up a third in ratings and viewership from Senators-Penguins last year (0.9, 1.55M) and up a third and 31% respectively from Penguins-Lightning in 2016 (0.9, 1.56M).

Tampa Bay’s series-tying win, which peaked with 2.6 million viewers from 10:30-10:45 PM ET, had 2.13 million with streaming included.

Excluding Game 7s, it was the most-watched conference final game on cable since 2015 (Ducks-Blackhawks Game 6: 2.4M). For the postseason, it trails only Capitals-Penguins Game 6 in the second round as the most-watched game on cable (2.2M).

Game 5 had a 9.7 rating in Tampa-St. Petersburg, the market’s third-highest for a conference final game on NBCSN, and an 8.8 in Washington (D.C.).

Yankees Off to Hot Start in May

New York Yankees Major League Baseball games have averaged a 4.58 rating on YES Network since the start of May, up 23% from the team’s average in April (3.71). Last Saturday’s A’s-Yankees game scored a 4.97, the team’s highest weekend rating on YES since 2012 (Angels-Yankees: 5.00).

ESPN Top Rank Boxing Nears 2018 High

The latest edition of ESPN’s Top Rank Boxing earned a 0.6 rating and 1.0 million viewers, the series’ second-largest audience in 2018. A March card after college basketball’s ACC Tournament final holds the top spot (0.7, 1.1M).

In adults 18-49, the boxing telecast (0.35) beat NASCAR Cup Series racing on FS1 head-to-head (0.32) and also topped ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball the following night (0.31).

[Numbers from Nielsen via Programming Insider 5.18; ShowBuzz Daily 5.15; YES Network]