A shorter-than-usual conference finals has slowed the NHL’s ratings momentum, but the league still entered the Stanley Cup Final on a solid note.
Tuesday’s Sharks-Blues NHL Western Conference Final Game 6 earned a 1.0 rating and 1.81 million viewers on NBCSN, up a tick in ratings and 20% in viewership from Ducks-Predators Game 6 in 2017 (0.9, 1.50M). There was no Game 6 of last year’s West Final.
Compared to last year’s lone conference final Game 6, Lightning-Capitals in the Eastern Conference, ratings fell 20% (from 1.2) and viewership 14% (from 2.11M). Versus Game 6 of the previous Blues-Sharks conference final in 2016, ratings increased a tick and viewership 27% from a 0.9 and 1.43 million.
The Blues’ series-clinching win, which peaked with 2.21 million viewers, was the most-watched Western Conference final game on cable since 2015 (Ducks-Blackhawks Game 6: 2.38M).
Game 6 drew a 20.8 rating in St. Louis, the market’s highest rating on record for an NHL game on NBC. It had a 3.2 in the Bay Area.
Last Sunday’s Game 5 of the series pulled a 1.1 rating and 1.81 million viewers on NBC, down 15% in ratings and 14% in viewership from Golden Knights-Jets last year (1.3, 2.10M) and down 21% and 23% respectively from Predators-Ducks in 2017, which aired on a Saturday night after the Preakness Stakes (1.4, 2.35M).
Game 4 last Friday drew a 0.8 (-10%) and 1.37 million (-10%) on NBCSN.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs is averaging a 0.67 rating and 1.17 million viewers across NBC Sports’ TV and digital platforms, down 3% in viewership from last year (1.21M), but up 2% and 4% respectively from 2017 (0.66, 1.13M). Last year’s average rating was not available. This year’s postseason ranks as the fifth-most watched on record through the conference finals.
While viewership had been trending at record-highs for much of the postseason, the averages were only slightly ahead of last year. The short length of this year’s conference finals — which lasted just ten games, the fewest since 2013 — was enough to pull the numbers back below last year’s levels.
On cable and digital alone, the average of 1.00 million viewers is up 4% from last year (964K) to the highest level since 2014 (1.05M). Other than 2014, no postseason has averaged more viewers on cable since 1996 (1.08M).
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily, NBC Sports]
