Thursday’s deciding game of the Sharks/Red Wings series scored record numbers in both the Bay Area and Detroit, two of the nation’s largest television markets.
The Red Wings’ Game 7 loss to the Sharks drew a whopping 22.5 rating on Fox Sports Detroit Thursday night, easily the highest rated program in the history of the network. The previous high was a 19.5 for Tuesday’s Game 6 of the series. The game ranks as the highest rated local Red Wings telecast since 1999 (COL/DET G3: 23.8, WKBD-UPN).
The game was not nearly as big of a draw in the Bay Area, but still earned big numbers. Comcast SportsNet California earned a 7.14 rating for its coverage of the game, the highest rating ever for a Sharks game on a regional sports network. The previous high was a 6.57 for Game 5 between the same two teams last season.
In Detroit, the game peaked from 11:15-11:30 PM ET, with a 26.2 rating. In the Bay Area, the game peaked from 11:30-11:45 PM ET, with a 10.13.
Nationally, Game 7 drew a 0.8 U.S. rating and 1.251 million viewers on Versus.
(Numbers from sharks.nhl.com, SharksPage, Fox Sports Detroit, Son of the Bronx)
