The NHL’s shortened season got off to a hot start in the ratings.
Wednesday’s Penguins-Flyers NHL season opener averaged a Nielsen-estimated 0.48 rating and 932,000 viewers on NBCSN, marking the league’s most-watched Opening Night game since 2014 (Flyers-Bruins: 956K). Including the streaming audience on NBC Sports’ digital platforms, the game averaged 972,000 — the most ever for an NHL regular season game on NBCSN.
The Flyers’ win, which peaked with 1.26 million from 7:30-7:45 PM ET, increased 29% from the first game of last season — which aired in a later timeslot and took place in October (10/2/19 Capitals-Blues: 724K).
The strong numbers came despite an unusually early start time of 5:30 PM ET and competing coverage of a presidential impeachment. Viewership was not too far below the late night Pelicans-Clippers NBA game on ESPN (987K), though it was further back of Nets-Knicks earlier in the night (1.18M).
Pittsburgh led all markets with a 9.35 rating, while Philadelphia turned in a 4.7.
Later in the night, Blackhawks-Lightning averaged a 0.46 and 844,000 (880K including streaming) — ranking fifth among Opening Night games since 2014. Blues-Avalanche chipped in a 0.23 and 372,000 (403K including streaming), actually down slightly from last year’s opening nightcap (Sharks-Golden Knights: 379K).
The last time the NHL season started in January — 2013, due to an owner-imposed lockout — the opening game aired on the NBC broadcast network and averaged 2.8 million viewers.
The strong start for the NHL’s shortened season comes less than a month after the NBA opened its shortened season with its most-watched Opening Night in three years. Major League Baseball opened its shortened season last summer with its top Opening Night audience on record, though that was one of the first major team sporting events after the wave of cancellations and postponements last March.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 1.14, NBC Sports]
