With the teams skating at two of baseball’s historic ballparks, the NHL Stadium Series matchups lit the ratings lamp last weekend.
NBC’s Jan. 26 telecast of the New York Rangers’ 7-3 triumph over the New Jersey Devils from Yankee Stadium averaged a 1.3 household rating and just under 2.08 million viewers from 1:27-4:30 p.m. (ET), according to Nielsen fast national data. The delivery made it the highest-rated and most-watched NHL regular-season game on the broadcast network, sans NHL Winter Classic contests.
The broadcast peaked in the 3p.m. half hour -- a 1.5 rating and 2.3 million viewers --during the second half of the Rangers’ four-goal, second period.
Out at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 25, NBCSN averaged 0.35 rating and 622,000 viewers for its coverage of the Anaheim Ducks-Los Angeles Kings from 10:04 p.m. – 1 a.m., a 135% increase from the NHL telecast average at 10 p.m., according to network officials.
The cablecast peaked with a 0.39 rating and 712,000 watchers in the 10 p.m. half hour, just as the game faced and the Ducks took an early lead they would not relinquish in their 3-0 victory.
Saturday’s contest generated a 2.38 rating in Los Angeles, the highest-ever rating in that DMA for an NHL regular-season game on NBCSN. The service was the top-ranked cable channel and the second-ranked network overall in the market within the 10 p.m.-1 a.m. time period, behind Univision.
Back in The Bronx, the Rangers-Devils game netted a 5.1 rating in New York, matching the highest rating in the DMA for any NHL game ever broadcast on NBC: Game 1 of the Los Angeles-New Jersey Stanley Cup Final on May 30, 2012. Sunday’s broadcast generated the best-ever rating in the New York market for an NHL regular-season game on NBC, which was the No. 1 network in the market during the 1:30-4:30 p.m. time period.
