Blue Jackets-Red Wings gives best regular season NHL audience to ESPN in potential 4 Nations bump
The Blue Jackets-Red Wings Stadium Series game in Columbus was ESPN's most watched regular season game since winning back NHL rights in 2021.
The Blue Jackets-Red Wings Stadium Series game in Columbus was ESPN's most watched regular season game since winning back NHL rights in 2021.
With 4.4 million viewers, the audience for the game was on par with a typical Stanley Cup Final game.
This year's Winter Classic between the Blues and Blackhawks shifted to New Year's Eve in a move that did not pan out for the NHL.
The league was beat out by both MLB and the WNBA on Tuesday.
TNT and TBS combined to average 959,000 viewers for first-round coverage, a first-round record for cable.
The NHL's new TV deals seem to be working well so far, with audience growth compared to its previous years on NBC and NBCSN.
Both of ESPN's first-night matchups performed well.
These are certainly decent numbers for an expansion draft, especially on ESPN2 and especially one where many picks were reported in advance.
Yes, the NBC and NBCSN numbers are up year-over-year so far, but a big part of that is the comparison of a full season to a few weeks with boosted opening-game numbers.
NBC reported not only great Game 7 ratings, but great ratings for the playoffs as a whole.
The 3.84 overnight for Game 4 was a three-year-low, but not far behind last year's 3.9.
Buffalo and Las Vegas saw huge ratings increases compared to the previous season
The average audience of 778,000 viewers across games was the best number since 2012.
The Stadium Series ratings rose significantly year over year.
Game 5 averaged 6.71 million viewers, the best for a Game 5 since 2002.
NHL ratings are up from recent years, and that trend should continue with an intriguing Capitals-Golden Knights clash on the way.
These are the best Western Conference Final ratings since 2015, and the best non-Chicago ones in NBC history, impressive with a Canadian team involved.
In the NBA, the Warriors and Cavs led the way, while the Timberwolves posted the biggest growth. In the NHL, the Penguins and Sabres topped the ratings, with the Predators posting the largest growth.
So far, so good for both the NBA and NHL.