Ratings Roundup: Turner Sports' Coverage of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round Becomes Most-Watched on Cable of All Time; More NHL, NBA Notes By SVG Staff
Friday, May 20, 2022 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, Turner Sports' first round coverage of 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs is most-watched on cable of all time, 2022 NBA Playoffs through Conference Semifinals is the most-viewed in eight years, MLB.TV breaks consumption records for streaming through first 40 days of season, and more.
Turner Sports' First Round Coverage of 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs Is Most-Watched on Cable of All Time Turner Sports' coverage of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Round 1 is the most watched first round on cable ever, and broke individual game and total round all-time records for cable.
Sunday's New York Rangers thrilling overtime victory over the Pittsburgh in their decisive Game 7 matchup delivered 2.3 million average viewers and is the most-watched non-Stanley Cup Finals game on cable since 2018. Saturday's tightly contested Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Game 7 averaged 1.7 million viewers. Both games rank as the two most-watched first round games on cable of all time.
Stanley Cup Playoff games televised on TNT and TBS averaged 812,000 viewers across 25 telecasts and is the most-watched Round 1 on cable ever, up 60% vs. 2021 Round 1 on cable, and up 27% vs. 2019. TNT and TBS accounts for 4 of the top 5 most-watched games of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs so far.
Female viewership for playoff games airing on TNT and TBS continues to see substantial increases, up 83% vs. Round 1 on cable in 2021, and up 49% from 2019.
Additionally, the first round of Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage on Bleacher Report's social handle generated a 104% increase in total engagements compared to coverage of the entire 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
B/R Open Ice reached over 2.9 million fans on Instagram during the first round of coverage ( 91% vs. April 17 May1).
2022 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on ESPN and ESPN2 Draw Strong Round One Viewership The first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs on ESPN and ESPN2 averaged 725,000 viewers across 26 games - an increase of 43% versus 2021's first round cable average. ESPN and ESPN2 delivered six of the top 10 most-viewed Stanley Cup Playoff games so far this season, while the Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers delivered as the most-viewed game one of a first round Stanley Cup Playoff ever on cable with 1.04 million viewers and peaked at 1.5 million.
Saturday's Boston Bruins at Carolina Hurricanes game seven averaged 1.6 million viewers, up 112% versus the comparable 2021 game, and was the fourth most-viewed round one game on cable ever. The Hurricanes victory peaked at 2.2 million viewers. Saturday night's game seven matchup between the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers averaged 1.1 million viewers and peaked at 1.2 million.
The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs ended with the Calgary Flames beating the Dallas Stars at home in a game seven overtime showdown, averaging 1.01 million viewers - an increase of 99% versus the comparable game in 2021 - and peaking at 1.2 million.
Now in the second round, ESPN is continuing its impressive run of ratings on ESPN. Game 1 of Rangers-Hurricanes averaged 1.7 million viewers, which is up 10% vs. the comparable second round cable game in 2021. This was also the most-viewed Stanley Cup Playoff Game 1 of Round 2 on cable since 2015. Game 1 of Oilers-Flames averaged 894,000 viewers, which is up 40% vs. the comparable second round cable game in 2021.
2022 NBA Playoffs Through Conference Semifinals Is Most-Viewed in Eight Years Prior to the start of the Conference Finals, NBA playoff viewership is at the highest level in nearly a decade.
The first two rounds of the NBA Playoffs averaged 3.71 million viewers across TNT, ESPN, ABC and NBA TV, the highest average at this point of the playoffs since 2014. Viewership is up 14% from last year (3.26M), 53% from the months-delayed bubble two years ago (2.43M) and 4% from 2019, the previous postseason to begin as normal in the month of April (3.55M).
Excluding games on NBA TV, the postseason is averaging 4.08 million - up 15% from last year (3.56M), up 62% from two years ago (2.53M) and up 7% from '19 (3.80M). It should be noted that out-of-home viewing was not included in 2019 (or prior years). (SportsMediaWatch)
Now in the penultimate round, TNT's exclusive coverage of the 2022 NBA Western Conference Finals Game 1 between the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks averaged 6.5 million total viewers on Wednesday night to deliver the network's most-watched NBA Conference Finals Game since 2018.
The network's Mavericks/Warriors telecast - which delivered the most watched NBA Playoff game on cable this year - is up 21% over TNT's presentation of the 2021 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 (Hawks/Bucks, 5.4 million viewers) and 38% when compared with last year's WCF Game 1 (Clippers/Suns, 4.7 million viewers).
Wednesday night's WCF Game 1 telecast - peaking with an average of 7.5 million viewers from 9:45-10 p.m. ET - was the No. 1 program of the night across all of cable, and together with the iconic Inside the NBA post-game show (2.7 million viewers), delivered cable's top two programs across key demos. Overall, TNT's 2022 NBA Playoffs coverage has led the network to win the night on cable in primetime 18 times.
Overall, TNT continues to deliver its most watched NBA Playoffs coverage since 2018, averaging 3.8 million total viewers (38 telecasts). Wednesday night's 9.4 rating in Dallas was TNT's best in th
North America Stories
19/05/2026
Cisco and the USGA have announced a multiyear extension of their partnership, which began in 2018. Cisco serves as the Official Technology Partner of the USGA, ...
19/05/2026
Urban Edge Network (UEN), a streaming platform for NAIA sports, has announced a partnership with Spiideo to provide streaming and production tools to UEN's ...
19/05/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will provide live coverage of all 900 Roland-Garros matches across its platforms beginning with qualifiers on May 18. In Europe, 21...
19/05/2026
Tubi, Fox Corporation's free streaming service, has announced the launch of the FIFA World Cup 2026 FOX Hub, a dedicated destination for World Cup programmi...
19/05/2026
Telef nica, in collaboration with Sony, has conducted a 5G connectivity trial at the Movistar Arena in Spain using the 26 GHz millimetre wave (mmWave) band. The...
19/05/2026
Ross Production Services (RPS) has installed a Calrec Argo M console into its new Hypermax-1 remote production truck, replacing one of three Argo S consoles pre...
19/05/2026
Panasonic Projector and Display Corporation has announced the acquisition of 100% of the shares of UK-based media technology company Hive Media Control Ltd. (HI...
19/05/2026
Globecast has announced the completion of a nine-month renovation of its Singapore facility, converting it from a traditional linear broadcast operation into a ...
19/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced a three-year enterprise agreement with Phoenix Broadc...
19/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that Watch Brasil, a streaming platform operating across Brazil and Europe since 2018, has replaced its legacy systems with Bitmovin'...
19/05/2026
Ateme has announced the migration of Dish Home Nepal's Nepal Premier League (NPL) streaming infrastructure to Ateme's TITAN Live solution deployed on Ak...
19/05/2026
CMSI provided workflow, media management, and HDR support for ESPN during coverage of the NCAA Gymnastics Semifinals and Championships. The company supported fi...
19/05/2026
In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into the six production-technologies nominated for this year's George Wensel Tec...
19/05/2026
In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into the six production-technologies nominated for this year's George Wensel Tec...
19/05/2026
Featuring a fully IP infrastructure, Supershooter 11 is intended for large-scale events. Enabling remote and distributed workflows, Supershooter 65 joins the RE...
19/05/2026
By Jessica Herndon
The line wrapped around the building outside Denver's La...
19/05/2026
When all companies in the market are allowed to compete under the same set of ru...
19/05/2026
Battle-proven technology withstands electronic warfare threats across air, maritime surface and subsea domains....
19/05/2026
WESCAM MX-Series EO/IR systems provide high-precision targeting across domains, including counter-UAS applications...
19/05/2026
Champaign, IL - March 16, 2026 Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufa...
19/05/2026
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. April 16, 2026 - Cobalt Digital today announced a partnership ...
19/05/2026
Las Vegas - April 18, 2026 Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufactur...
19/05/2026
LAS VEGAS April 18, 2026 - Advanced HDR by Technicolor and Cobalt Digital are ...
19/05/2026
LAS VEGAS - May 4, 2026 - Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing products, and a founding partner in the openGear initiativ...
19/05/2026
London - 11 May 2026 Cobalt Digital, the leading designer and manufacturer of award-winning signal processing products, and a founding partner in the openGear...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Grass Valley has entered into a three-year enterprise agreement with Phoenix Broadcast Solutions as the Singapore-based company expands its live production oper...
19/05/2026
Clear-Com supported Musikal Perahu Kertas, a large-scale musical theater production in Indonesia adapted from the acclaimed novel by Dee Lestari, through the d...
19/05/2026
Actus Digital, a LiveU company, and a leading provider of intelligent media monitoring and broadcast compliance platforms, announced today that METEO CONSULT ha...
19/05/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of managed services for the broadcast and media industry, today announced the completion of a major renovation of its Singapore fa...
19/05/2026
Following a major upgrade to its Connecticut remote production centre with the installation of three 60-fader Argo S consoles in 2023, RPS has switched one of t...
19/05/2026
PlayBox Technology today announced the launch of Celebro Play, a browser-based media orchestration platform designed specifically for broadcast facilities and p...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions for broadcast, post, and professional AV will showcase its latest signal processing solutions at B...
19/05/2026
Media Links, a leading developer and manufacturer of IP media transport solutions, has announced the integration of its Xscend platform with Skyline Communicat...
19/05/2026
Collaboration expands regional partner ecosystem as Media Links showcases IP media transport solutions on stand 4M4-4 and alongside Clearcast Asia on stand
Me...
19/05/2026
Company Highlights Labor-Saving Control and Custom Branding Opportunities Designed to Increase Integrator Profitability
LynTec, a leading manufacturer of ele...
19/05/2026
Mago Studio Moves AI Video Beyond Prompts with New Production-Focused Tools
Brie Clayton May 18, 2026
0 Comments
New Capabilities Bring Controllable, ...
19/05/2026
It May be Time to Stop and Take an AI Breather
Brie Clayton May 19, 2026
0 Comments
If the rock you stay on starts to roll, jump clean. Or you'll...
19/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Trailer for RAFA, the Documentary Series A...
19/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Expands Consumer Products Footprint with Strategic Con...
19/05/2026
Matt Derella Expands Leadership Across LinkedIn Ads and Microsoft Advertising Published on May 19, 2026 Categories: Company News
LinkedIn Corporate Commun...
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
Ratings Roundup: Turner Sports' Coverage of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round Becomes Most-Watched on Cable of All Time; More NHL, NBA Notes By SVG Staff 
