Just use this to discuss NHL TV viewership/scheduling/announcers & share the history of ...
Viewership
#s
are for U.S. broadcasts unless otherwise noted.
-Nielsen Top 10 Local Markets for Stanley Cup Final-
1. West Palm Beach 6.9
2. Miami 6.2
3. Buffalo 5.4
4. Pittsburgh 4.2
5. Las Vegas 3.5
6. Detroit 3.4
7. Minneapolis 3.3
7. Fort Myers 3.3
7. Boston 3.3
10. Denver 3.1
With all series through 3-games. Here's the U.S. average viewership so far of each:
Panthers-Leafs: 1.439M
Kraken-Stars: 1.425M
Devils-Canes: 1.166M
Oilers-VGK: 1.165M
For comparison, here's last years Top 10 Local Market ratings for the VGK-FLA SCF:
1. Las Vegas 14.6
2. West Palm Beach 3.8
3. Miami 3.5
4. Pittsburgh 3.1
4. Buffalo 3.1
6. Boston 2.5
7. Denver 2.4
7. Minneapolis 2.4
9. Detroit 2.2
10. Providence 2.1
Gary better already be on the phone with ESPN to pick up those Friday slots -- if ESPN ends up giving up their Friday NBA games.
Consistent scheduling/destination viewing matters.
NHL on TNT on Wednesday
NHL on ESPN on Friday
Simple. Works. Plus Friday NHL on ESPN has history.
Full U.S. number:
-Game 7 Stanley Cup Final avg viewership-
ABC Oilers-Panthers: 7.662M
Obviously was the top primetime telecast in the demo & had the most total viewers in primetime Monday night.
7 of the first 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games have had an avg viewership of over 1.0M
Last year, it took until the 36th Stanley Cup Playoff game to have the 7th game of avg viewership over 1.0M
Less than half the games to match. Viewership is off to a great start these playoffs.
Props to TNT for another year of excellent coverage.
Crazy they already got 3 years in the books.
Sad have to wait 4 months until their annual preseason DH that kicks things off.
Not the number we're waiting for but finally got the delayed U.S. Final Number for Game 6:
-Game 6 Stanley Cup Final avg viewership Friday-
ABC Panthers-Oilers: 4.237M
ABC drew 7.66 million viewers for the Panthers' Game 7 Stanley Cup clincher over the Oilers
I'm impressed. WELL above my expectations
Last Game 7 in 2019 = 8.91 million, Blues-Bruins, NBC
Oilers-Panthers also set a record audience in Canada on Sportsnet with 7.6 million
-Game 7 U.S. avg viewership predictions-
Final #: 6.449M
Projected range: 6.2M-to-7.2M
o/u: 6.5M
Lot of people sent theirs in replies yesterday and it's interesting how wide the range of Game 7 predictions are -- anywhere from 5M-to-10M.
Interested to see what you all have.
Through the first 50 games of the the Stanley Cup Playoffs the U.S. average across all networks is 1.03M.
With 21 games having an avg viewership of over 1.0M.
Game 7 peaked at 10.3M in the 10:45pmET quarter-hour.
Also was the most-viewed NHL game ever on ESPN+.
Stanley Cup Final averaged 4.2 million viewers in the U.S.
7.7M total viewers for Game 7!
Monday's
#StanleyCup
Final winner-take-all matchup between
#LetsGoOilers
&
#TimeToHunt
delivered the most-viewed non-original six audience on record
Details:
@Zone_NHL
@wyshynski
Lot of years where the Bruins are most-watched in the regular season, over Celtics and Red Sox.
Even though it gets said every year, people still need reminded of how popular the Bruins are.
ABC had the potential for up to 14 Final(s) games between the Stanley Cup & the NBA. 14 nights, most winning primetime, most winning the day ratings/viewership wise.
Looking very possible they end up with only 8 games.
Sunday's
#NYR
-
#TimeToHunt
Eastern Conference Final Game 3 matchup averaged 2.4M total viewers‼️
To date, the Eastern Conference Final is up 42%
*Based on Nielsen Fast Nationals
More: |
#StanleyCup
SBJ's regular season ratings recap has regional/local ratings info in there for those interested:
“To see something like in the New York markets where the Rangers actually beat the Knicks -- on an up year for the Knicks -- was pretty wild.”
-2023/24 U.S. National Broadcast Ranges-
7.662M: 1 game
4.150-4.237M: 2 games
3.016-3.558M: 6 games
2.071-2.459M: 6 games
1.003-1.992M: 47 games
901-989k: 9 g
803-896k: 15 g
700-798k: 11 g
626-699k: 6 g
513-598k: 18 g
401-482k: 17 g
302-390k: 33 g
211-298k: 22 g
152-198k: 8 g
Lot of crossover with TNT Sports NHL & NBA crews the last two days.
Shaq on NHL on TBS two days in a row, Chuck on NHL on TBS yesterday, Biz NBA on TNT appearance today.
HERE FOR THE CUP! 🏆
Last night’s Stanley Cup Final game 7 is Sportsnet’s most-watched broadcast ever, reaching 15M Canadians, with an average audience of 7.55M. It is also the most-watched program ever on Sportsnet+, reaching 1.93M streamers.
Details 👉
@GreeceIceHockey
@walsha
No, you said MLS was passing NHL in U.S. viewership.
MLS most recent nationally televised game had 82k average viewership.
Pregame on truTV last night beat that with 84k avg viewership.
-U.S. 1.0M+ Final Numbers-
62 U.S. national broadcasts had an average viewership of over 1.0M this season.
Up from 59 such games last season
-Stanley Cup Playoffs-
2023/24: 55 of 88 games
2022/23: 50 of 88 games
-Regular Season-
2023/24: 7 of 113 games
2022/23: 9 of 112 games
Army said on Game Notes this morning that he was at the TNT studios last night doing a test for a separate show TNT is possibly wanting to do. No further details at this time.
Speculate as you wish.
Tuesday's Game 5 delivered 4.1 million total viewers 💥
To date, the
#StanleyCup
Final across ESPN platforms is up 31%
*Based on Nielsen Fast Nationals
More:
Kraken Stanley Cup Playoffs debut is going pretty well,
@NHLtoSeattle
.
Kraken-Avs:
Game 1 ESPN: 737k
Game 2 ESPN: 875k
Game 3 TBS: 860k
Game 4 TBS: 741k
"Road to the Winter Classic" broadcast schedule.
Four 30-min episodes available on TNT & max in the U.S.
Wed Dec 13 6:30pmET
Wed Dec 20 6:30pmET
Wed Dec 27 6:30pmET
Mon Jan 1 1:30pmET
Frozen Frenzy has concluded.
Wouldn't say it was just merely a success, I would say it was a massive success!
Props to all involved. Particularly
@Buccigross
&
@KevinWeekes
ICYMI Conference Final U.S. #'s so far:
-Panthers-Rangers-
Game 1: 1.984M (ESPN)
Game 2: 2.123M (ESPN)
Game 3: 2.459M (ABC)
Game 4: 2.071M (ESPN)
-Oilers-Stars-
Game 1: 1.544M (TNT/truTV)
Game 2: 1.538M (TNT/truTV)
Game 3: 1.755M (TNT/truTV)
Game 4: 1.821M (TNT/truTV)
-U.S. 1.0M+ through the Second Round-
2024: 36 of 69 Stanley Cup Playoff games have had an avg viewership of over 1.0M
2023: 35 of 73 games through the 2nd round had an avg viewership of over 1.0M
2022: 29 of 73 games through the 2nd round had an avg viewership of over 1.0M
NHL U.S. viewership notes October '22 through today.
Meanwhile, the
#1
NHL U.S. viewership media story during that period -even more than the SCF- was the conveniently timed "down 22%" in January that aggregators shared with zero context and that people STILL reference. Typical.
-Stanley Cup Playoffs viewership last night-
ESPN Hurricanes-Rangers: 1.930M
Waiting on Avs-Stars, was on 3 different channels last night for various periods (ESPNU, espn2, ESPN) ..
So far have 235k for the 78 min it was on espn2 (it was on ESPNU during that time, as well.)
-NHL on TNT avg viewership last night-
Blackhawks-Bruins: 896k
Avalanche-Kings: 377k
*Excluding the Winter Classic, Chicago-Boston is the most-viewed regular season NHL game in TNT history.
Anyone find it weird how 3 of the final 4 are talked about?
Stars have been in Dallas since 1993. Panthers have also been around since 1993. 3 decades!
Canes have been in N.C. since 1997.
2 of them have won the Cup before!
Talked about as if STILL new markets with no history.
There was a lot of complaints earlier in the Stanley Cup Playoffs about SC w/SVP not having the de-facto postgame show & instead ignoring the game that just ended to talk about not hockey.
Credit where credit is due. Strong postgames for the ECF. Interviews, Cally, etc.. Good.
-Stanley Cup Playoffs viewership last night-
ESPN Hurricanes-Rangers: 1.930M
Waiting on Avs-Stars, was on 3 different channels last night for various periods (ESPNU, espn2, ESPN) ..
So far have 235k for the 78 min it was on espn2 (it was on ESPNU during that time, as well.)
Well Steve…the game was on Turner…and I work for ESPN…
But I’ll be on the call for game 5 Tuesday night…And it’s great to know you’ll be watching!
(By the way..I watched the game..Brendan Burke called it very well, and right down the middle..like he always does)
@Zone_NHL
Tessitore hyped up the "best theme music" & Jordan Rodgers said he was a "big Preds guy" for the promo on ABC during the ND-Lville game.
Makes sense on Rodgers, have seen him on TV at Preds games before.
Cool moment- Gary Thorne on the call of our broadcast as his grandson scores his 20th goal of the season. Kent skated past Canterbury 6-4 on Saturday
#cthk