Cup runneth over. (UPDATED)
A successful Stanley Cup Finals ended with the biggest overnight rating of the season.
Via the Mediaweek Programming Insider, Game 6 of the Red Wings/Penguins Stanley Cup Finals averaged a 4.4/7 overnight from 8:00-11:00 PM last night. The overnight rating does not include the Washington D.C. or Cincinnati markets.
The game drew a superb 7.02 million viewers, according to preliminary numbers, and a 3.0/9 among adults 18-49. NBC finished third for the night in total viewers, ahead of ABC and The CW, and placed second among adults 18-49, behind only FOX.
Should the 7.02 million viewers hold, Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals would be the most watched NHL telecast since Game 7 of the Mighty Ducks/Devils Finals drew 7.2 million viewers in 2003.
The 4.4 overnight is the best for a Game 6 since 2000, when Devils/Stars Game 6 drew a 5.2/11 on ABC. Compared to the last Game 6 in the Stanley Cup Finals, the 4.4 overnight is up 100% from a 2.2 for Hurricanes/Oilers two years ago.
Games 5 and 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals drew the two highest overnights ever for an NHL telecast on NBC, and both games will likely finish as the two highest rated NHL telecasts since the lockout. The 2008 Stanley Cup Finals should easily finish as the highest rated on broadcast television since 2002.
Heading into Game 6, NBC averaged a 2.8 final rating with 4.8 million viewers for three Stanley Cup Final telecasts.
Overnight ratings for Stanley Cup Finals on NBC.
2.8: Red Wings/Penguins Game 3 (Wed., 5/28, 8 PM NBC); up 87% from last year.
2.6: Red Wings/Penguins Game 4 (Sat., 5/31, 8 PM NBC); up 13% from last year.
4.2: Penguins/Red Wings Game 5 (Mon., 6/2, 8 PM NBC); up 79% from last year.
4.4: Red Wings/Penguins Game 6 (Wed., 6/4, 8 PM NBC); no comparable game last year.
16 comments:
Wow, it seems like the NHL has really arrived.
Great news indeed!
Yeah....until they have a Nashville/Florida Final next year. There just aren't enough hockey fans in redneck country. It's too bad because if you ever play hockey you would never play anything else.
This adds up to a whopping 3.5 avg/overnight and still has yet to win 1 night or even 1 hr during the summer reruns and crappy shows.
Too bad though - its still not must see TV for the vast majority of the nation. This is a niche sport although its been around longer than most majop league sports - ever wonder why? I'll tell you - the NHL traditionally represented the hopes of those who simply could not compete for a place in regular American sports, such people turned to a Canadian game to find something anything to excel at (the minorities had access to football, baseball, basketball and what wasa mediocre talent to do? play hockey of course! - not many minority atlethes there so a place was guaranteed.
From this rather questionable premise the NHL evolved and never lost the stigma of also-rans (excepty briefly in the 1990's when the combination of MJ's retirement, NY Rangers cup run and the increasingly thug image of the league alienated many fans) . Now that the NBA has rebounded with a wonderful product, excellent stars and a much more wholesome image (thanks to Sterns' laying down the law) hockey's brief moment in the sun is gone forever.
Truthfully, people do realize even if its not obviously stated that the NHL is largely a last refuge for mediocre athlethes and bigots who (save for skating) fear and dread the superior abilities of real atlethes in the NFL, NBA and MLB. Dressing up in silly padded custumes and banging into things never counted for atlethic prowess where most of us grew up, it was more like child's play.
We all seem to have various reasons to pick holes in every single positive or negative for the NHL (and the league has given more than enough reason in the past). Yet, this is great news, no matter how you slice it.
Of course, we're going to discuss the various ways that the league needs to build momentum from here on out. I was just thinking of one: in order to push back the barrier of being unfamiliar with players (especially European players), would any of you think that broadcasting the Draft on NBC would help? It appears that baseball has figured this out, but unlike hockey, for most people Stateside, baseball is engrained in their DNA. Thoughts?
The above comment has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. Just because you don't like a sport(whether it's golf, hockey, soccer, etc) does not mean that the people who do play these sports must be untalented. Last time I checked, the NHL has many talented players from all over the world, not mediocre athletes that can't compete in other sports. If you like the NBA, that's fine it is a great game to watch, but don't bash a sport that you've never took time to even watch a game of. No sport deserves that.
Great athletes? Weighing 300 lbs or being 7 feet tall does not make you a "great" athlete. If Kobe Bryant was 5'8 instead of 6'8 would he be in the NBA? Seriously doubt it. Same goes for 300 lb football players. Guys come out of Africa with one year of experience and play in the NBA. What kind of a joke is that? Athletes? Please...
The NBA is wholesome? What planet are you from? Covered from head to toe in tatoos is a wholesome image? Man, you have bought the main street media's spin hook, line and sinker....As for playing hockey..if you ever played a sport and I'm sure you haven't you would realize that playing hockey is alot more fun that sitting on your butt for 3 hours in a baseball or football game. As for basketball if your're not 6'6 what is the point of even playing the game seriously
The hockey draft is televised on Versus and before that on ESPN. The fact is that there isn't one development pool like college basketball or football that every fan is aware of so they know the players before they are even drafted. I don't think televising the draft means much either positively or negatively.
When a city like Seattle actually broadcasts the game on its main NBC affiliate as opposed to shoving it off onto a sister station not available through satellite service, then we can start talking "arrival." However, the game's premier event was consistently shoved aside for local news in this part of the country.
Isn't Seattle the city that just lost an NBA team? Either the NBA suxs or Seattle suxs....or both.
I agree with anonymous at 1;32. I'm sure if jr hockey was as big in the US as it is in canada the NHL would be bigger. Even if NCAA hockey included more big name schools like UCLA instead of ST Cloud State, hockey would be bigger.
Okay, let me defend my city's NBC affiliate (KING) shoving the Stanley Cup Finals off to a sister station (KONG, get it?) for a second.
First, we're on the West Coast. A game starting at 8 PM East Coast time airs at 5 here, which conflicts with local news. KING is the dominant station (the "king", if you will) of local news around here. When Sunday Night Football is on, KING airs news on KONG - AND runs a notice at the bottom of the screen saying news can be seen on KONG.
The point is, news is important for our NBC station and Seattle doesn't have an NHL team. I get the sense we're supposed to root for the Vancouver Canucks, which would be easier if we could see them any time they're not on Hockey Night in Canada, which we don't get local ratings for anyway.
And throw in the fact that KING actually HAS a sister station to hand off to. I guarantee you that Portland's NBC affiliate, KGW - owned by the same company as KING - would do the same thing if it had a sister station And don't forget that KONG is an independent; I know I said that KING could move the game because it's on the West Coast, but I still suspect it matters that the Stanley Cup Playoffs weren't bumping network programming. Unless Atlanta was in the Finals, I wouldn't be surprised to hear of that city's NBC affiliate, WXIA, bump the Finals to co-owned WATL - if it weren't for the fact that WATL is an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. (Yes, network programming could be delayed and no one watches MyNetworkTV anyway, but that's not the point.)
And besides, KING DID air at least one Finals game this year.
On the topic of junior hockey in the US: It would help if hockey had the same conference structure as every other NCAA sport. It would also help if even a hockey-mad town like Pittsburgh was near a good NCAA hockey team. How often do you hear of West Virginia or Pittsburgh advancing towards the Frozen Four?
(Note: I do not really follow NCAA hockey)
The lack of popularity of college hockey is the same as the lack of popularity of college baseball (relative to NCAA bball and football). Few players in the NCAA got on to the pros. Most NHL players come for junior leagues or other countries.
College sports are only as popular as they relate to the pros. Isn't that why pro baseball is more popular than pro basketball but in college its reversed?
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