Ratings Roundup: NBC Sports Gain Immediate Success with First Two Games of the NHL Stanley Cup Final By Kristian Hernandez, Assistant Editor Friday, June 1, 2018 - 9:04 am
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Ratings roundup is a rundown of ratings news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, NBC Sports starts their coverge of the NHL Stanley Cup Final with Games 1 and 2, ESPN arrives at the doorstep of the company's history with telecasts of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, TNT of the 2018 NBA Western Conference Finals, ESPN sees viewership growth in May, and Fox Sports experiences boost throughout Atlanta Braves regular season.
NBC Sports Gears Up for Anticipated NHL Stanley Cup Final
Game 2 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final Wednesday night between the Washington Capitals and the expansion Vegas Golden Knights set numerous consumption records across NBCSN, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app. Alex Ovechkin scored his 13th goal of the postseason and his first ever in a Stanley Cup Final, helping the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Game 2 TAD of 3.788 million viewers was up 16% vs. last year's Nashville-Pittsburgh Game 2 (3.278 million) on NBCSN, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app, and up 47% vs. the comparable 2016 game (San Jose-Pittsburgh, 2.579 million).
NBCSN averaged a TV-only audience of 3.648 million viewers, making it the most-watched NHL game and the most-watched primetime program on the network in three years, both since the Tampa Bay-Chicago Stanley Cup Final game on June 10, 2015 (3.914 million). Game 2 now ranks as the fifth-most watched Stanley Cup Final game on NBCSN (25 games), and the network's most-watched non-Chicago Stanley Cup Final game ever. TV-only viewership peaked at 4.701 million viewers between 10:45-11 pm ET. NBCSN ranked No. 1 in all of television in the P18-49 demo for Game 2.
Digitally, Game 2 is now the most-streamed NHL game in history with 366,000 uniques ( 60% vs. 2017) and 27.0 million live minutes ( 32%). Game 2 also set the streaming record for Average Minute Audience with 140,000 viewers.
Locally, both Las Vegas (19.8) and Washington, D.C., (13.4) delivered their highest-rated NHL games ever on NBCSN.
Monday night's Game 1 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 5.279 million viewers on NBC, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app - making it the most-watched Game 1 in three years, with viewership up 7% vs. last year. The game also set local ratings records in Las Vegas and Washington, D.C.
The TAD of 5.279 million viewers was the highest for a Game 1 since 2015 (Chicago-Tampa, 5.586 million), the third-best since NBC Sports began broadcasting the Stanley Cup Final in 2006 (2015 and 2013, Boston-Chicago, 6.315 million), up 7% vs. last year's Game 1 (Nashville-Pittsburgh, 4.925 million), and up 28% vs. Game 1 in 2016 (San Jose-Pittsburgh, 4.132 million). TV-only viewership of Game 1 peaked at nearly six million viewers (5.906 million).
Across NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app, Monday night's game totaled 321,000 uniques ( 67%), 16.1 million live minutes ( 18%), and an Average Minute Audience of 83,700 ( 18%) - all up from last year's Nashville-Pittsburgh Game 1. It is the most streamed NHL game ever in uniques.
Locally, Las Vegas delivered a 28.1 rating, which stands as the highest rating for a Golden Knights game ever in the market, surpassing Game 2's number.
With a 16.0 local rating in Washington, D.C., Game 1 was the highest-rated Capitals game ever on the networks of NBC in the market - topping Game 2 as well.
In addition, numerous markets had their highest local rating ever for a Game 1 on NBC in which their team was not playing: Buffalo, Chicago (4.02), Dallas (2.45), Los Angeles (3.23), Minneapolis, Nashville (4.11), Pittsburgh, Salt Lake (3.30), St. Louis, and Tampa (4.02). Non-NHL markets that also set Game 1 records for NBC broadcasts were Baltimore, Norfolk (2.99), and Richmond.
ESPN and the NBA ECF
ESPN drew its second-largest NBA audience ever for the Cleveland Cavaliers victory over the Boston Celtics in Eastern Conference Finals Game 7. It averaged 13,305,000 viewers, peaking with 17,463,000 viewers from 10:30-11 p.m. ET. It is the largest peak audience ever for an NBA game on ESPN.
The audience is currently only 41,000 viewers behind 2012 Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 - the Miami Heat and LeBron James vs. the Boston Celtics.
Based on Fast Nationals from Nielsen, ESPN is expected to win the night across all of television for its coverage of NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 7. Sunday night's telecast is now the most-watched game of the 2018 NBA Playoffs across networks.
Friday night's Cleveland Cavaliers victory over the Boston Celtics was ESPN's most-watched NBA Conference Finals Game 6 since 2012, according to Fast Nationals from Nielsen. The telecast averaged 8,089,000 viewers and peaked with 10,336,000 viewers from 10:30-11 p.m. ET.
The game was up 42% from the last time ESPN televised a Conference Finals Game 6 - Cleveland vs. Toronto - in 2016. ESPN won the night across all of television (broadcast and cable) for Friday, May 25.
The 2018 Eastern Conference Finals on ESPN averaged 8,449,000 viewers, up 34% from last year's Eastern Conference Finals, also a Cleveland vs. Boston series. It was up 29% from the 2017 Western Conference Finals - the Golden State Warriors vs. San Antonio Spurs - on ESPN.
Overall, the 2018 NBA Playoffs on ESPN (19 games) averaged 5,101,000 viewers, up 30% from 2017. It is the second-most watched NBA Playoffs ever on ESPN (back to 2003).
TNT Notices Impressive Numbers in Coverage of NBA WCF
TNT's exclusive presentation of 2018 NBA Western Conf
