2018-19 NHL TV ratings

[Coinneach]

NHL 2018/2019 TV ratings

NBC:

11/23/2018 Rangers/Flyers N/A

NBCSN:

10/3/2018 Boston/Washington 633k
10/3/2018 Anaheim/San Jose 338k
10/4/2018 Nashville/NY Rangers 194k (non-exclusive)
10/4/2018 Philadelphia/Vegas 227k (non-exclusive)
10/9/2018 San Jose/Philadelphia 249k
10/10/2018 Vegas/Washington 543k
10/16/2018 Arizona/Minnesota 197k
10/17/2018 NY Rangers/Washington 329k
10/17/2018 Boston/Calgary 162k
10/19/2018 Minnesota/Dallas 196k
10/23/2018 San Jose/Nashville N/A
10/24/2018 Toronto/Winnipeg 167k
10/24/2018 Tampa Bay/Colorado 177k
10/30/2018 Vegas/Nashville 227k

11/01/2018 Winnipeg/Florida N/A
11/06/2018 Edmonton/Tampa Bay N/A
11/07/2018 Pittsburgh/Washington 642k
11/07/2018 Nashville/Colorado 222k
11/13/2018 Tampa Bay/Buffalo 243k
11/14/2018 St. Louis/Chicago 407k
11/14/2018 Anaheim/Vegas 230k
11/20/2018 Edmonton/San Jose N/A (non-exclusive)
11/21/2018 Philadelphia/Buffalo 290k (non-exclusive)
11/23/2018 Chicago/Tampa 160k (non-exclusive)
11/27/2018 Vegas/Chicago 189k (non-exclusive)
11/28/2018 Blues/Red Wings 293k
11/28/2018 Penguins/Avalanche 281k (non-exclusive)

12/03/2018 Toronto/Buffalo 286k
12/05/2018 Edmonton/St. Louis 262k
12/05/2018 Chicago/Anaheim 125k (non-exclusive)
12/11/2018 Detroit/Washington 174k (non-exclusive)
12/12/2018 Pittsburgh/Chicago 519k

Cable average: 284k

Next week:

12/18/2018 Nashville/Chicago (non-exclusive)
12/19/2018 Pittsburgh/Washington
12/21/2018 Buffalo/Washington (non-exclusive)
12/22/2018 Los Angeles/San Jose

 

[Coinneach]

I found this older tweet:

 

[Coinneach]

Canadian TV ratings (26.11. - 2.12.)
English:

Quebec:

Strong NFL numbers in Canada.

 

[Fenway]

Once again the NHL shoots itself in the foot as today the Bruins host Buffalo at 5 PM while the Patriots are playing at 4:25 PM.

 

[NextBigThing]

Once again the NHL shoots itself in the foot as today the Bruins host Buffalo at 5 PM while the Patriots are playing at 4:25 PM.

I should have access to the Boston numbers sometime tomorrow morning. I'm expecting close to an all-time low (on record) for the Bruins.

 

[boredmale]

Canadian TV ratings (26.11. - 2.12.)
English:

View attachment 165435

Strong NFL numbers in Canada.

And for Curse of Oak Island. lol

 

[SwaggySpungo]

Geez, those ratings are atrocious. Barely 150,000 viewers for a live sporting event? That is just awful.

Pro wrestling is in full panic mode because they are only doing 3,000,000 viewers per episode. Hockey does 150,000?!

Is NBCS way down this season or are the hockey numbers always that embarrassing?

 

[Coinneach]

Geez, those ratings are atrocious. Barely 150,000 viewers for a live sporting event? That is just awful.

Pro wrestling is in full panic mode because they are only doing 3,000,000 viewers per episode. Hockey does 150,000?!

Is NBCS way down this season or are the hockey numbers always that embarrassing?

And with bad Hawks, Rangers, Flyers, Bruins etc. it will be worse and worse.

 

[Sam Spade]

And with bad Hawks, Rangers, Flyers, Bruins etc. it will be worse and worse.

Yeah but a good Sabres team will offset some of that.

 

[Fenian24]

Gee, maybe people aren't embracing Bettmans kinder, gentler game and want some physical hockey and rivalries back.

 

[USAUSA1]

Gee, maybe people aren't embracing Bettmans kinder, gentler game and want some physical hockey and rivalries back.

Pretty sure NBC and the nhl is happy with their relationship. Considering nbcsn top espn2 and fox sports this year. Stanley cup playoffs played a major role.

 

[WaltPoddubny]

Yeah but a good Sabres team will offset some of that.

These are national ratings, not local ratings. Buffalo isn't a national draw, and because of the lack of size of the Buffalo market, its strong local numbers won't be enough to make that big of a difference.

 

[Fenway]

 

[Coinneach]

Why do they like low Bruins ratings? And why dont they post Celtics rtgs?

 

[Fenway]

Why do they like low Bruins ratings? And why dont they post Celtics rtgs?

They hate hockey

 

[Coinneach]

They hate hockey

Why?

 

[eddygee]

They hate hockey

I think Hockey and Soccer(NHL/MLS) are two of the best Pro Sports in the US. I used to be a big MLB guy, but that league is set up to keep the same teams on top. I do love me some College Football.

 

[eddygee]

Pretty sure NBC and the nhl is happy with their relationship. Considering nbcsn top espn2 and fox sports this year. Stanley cup playoffs played a major role.

I think the EPL but mainly the Olympics this year had more to do with NBCSN success claiming the spot this year honestly. Stanley Cup helped maybe a little but, combined with the regular season average being down so much on average it's kinda wash when you look at the sports channel ratings from past years. NBCSN having Olympics coverage was the main catalyst IMHO.

 

[S E P H]

I think the EPL but mainly the Olympics this year had more to do with NBCSN success claiming the spot this year honestly. Stanley Cup helped maybe a little but, combined with the regular season average being down so much on average it's kinda wash when you look at the sports channel ratings from past years. NBCSN having Olympics coverage was the main catalyst IMHO.

EPL is NOT better than Stanley Cup ratings - majority of games are probably well below NHL regular season except when the big boys play like Arsenal vs Spurs or City vs Liverpool or Chelsea vs United. I love futball, but your agenda really makes you wrong majority of the time.

 

[ForumNamePending]

And with bad Hawks, Rangers, Flyers, Bruins etc. it will be worse and worse.

Ya pretty much... A few years ago when the NHL regular season ratings reached a high point the
Hawks, Rangers, Flyers, Bruins and Wings were all decent to great, and their fan bases had reason to have high expectations & optimism. NBCSN just had to keep on televising the above teams, along with Pittsburgh and Washington (the two teams that seem to be able to pull in casual and neutral fans), and the viewership numbers would be OK.

Now, with the exception of perhaps the Bruins, these teams range from meh to terrible and the respective fan bases know it. The other teams in the league, either due to market size and/or the sport being more niche in the market, just aren't capable of pulling in the same number of viewers.

As I said up thread, I guess some good news is the traditional rating drivers haven't featured prominently in the past couple of playoffs and ratings have still trended up... Maybe some of that will eventually spill into the regular season.

...

As far as NBCSN now being the 2nd most viewed sports network... Doesn't this pretty much come down to the Olympics (and maybe some other special events)? Between the regular season being down and the playoffs being up the NHL was a wash, NASCAR continued its decline, and the EPL is down a fair chunk from its high point 2 or 3 years ago.

 

[46zone]

NHL playoff ratings have increased 20+ percent since the 2016 playoffs, even with small Canadian markets like Ottawa & Winnipeg, as well as non-traditional Nashville & Tampa, making deep runs. That's what NBC cares about. Regular season ratings are down across all leagues, aside from the NFL, I don't see the big deal here.

 

[eddygee]

EPL is NOT better than Stanley Cup ratings - majority of games are probably well below NHL regular season except when the big boys play like Arsenal vs Spurs or City vs Liverpool or Chelsea vs United. I love futball, but your agenda really makes you wrong majority of the time.

No agenda at all stop being so thin skinned and apetty.. I'm no Euro Fan boy at all and I'm not a Premier league diehard but EPL regular season ratings have been higher on NBC Sports TV than NHL regular season year to year. This is a easily proven claim. https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv...ion-of-the-Premier-League-in-2017-18-20180517. I'm just providing analysis take it or leave it believe it or don't. You also missed the point where I said "MAINLY the Olympics had more to do with NBCSN taking over the spot this year honestly." Stanley Cup Playoffs have been on NBCSN for a while and if they were the main catalyst of the NBCSN taking the #2 spot in 2018 arguably they've would've put NBCSN into the #2 position long ago as Stanley Cup ratings have been much higher in recent years . The ratings were up this year on NBCSN leading up to the Stanley Cup Finals but they were not the highest, 2013 and 2015 Stanley Cup Finals were the highest rated Stanley Cup Finals ever in modern cable.


I was just saying if we are going to give the NHL the credit for it we should def include and give EPL some credit as they have higher regular season numbers on NBCSN. Also as I type this I'm kinda arguing against my give EPL point but further strengthening my overall it was the Olympics point. The 2015-16 EPL season was the highest rated EPL season ever on NBC Sports group averaging 518k. So you'd think having one of the highest rated EPL seasons combined with the second highest rated Stanley Cup Final in modern times would've gotten NBCSN the #2 spot in 2015. Don't be so quick to be a homer before making incorrect claims about others and look at the actual stats. I'm just adding analytics and stats to the discussion and not just going by feel goods so sorry if you don't appreciate having stats brought into a conversation to form a hypothesis.
The Olympics had more to do with it, but if it makes you feel better I'll take the EPL bit out of my statement. It will be interesting to see this list next year.

 

[Coinneach]

NHL playoff ratings have increased 20+ percent since the 2016 playoffs, even with small Canadian markets like Ottawa & Winnipeg, as well as non-traditional Nashville & Tampa, making deep runs. That's what NBC cares about. Regular season ratings are down across all leagues, aside from the NFL, I don't see the big deal here.

Point. Stanley Cup playoffs ratings destroy soccer ratings (EPL, Liga MX) in USA.

Btw. eddygee is wrong...again:

"The complete Stanley Cup Playoffs 2018 (without Final) has averaged 1.21 million TV+streaming viewers through three rounds, up 7% from last year (1.13M) and the highest average since 1997 (1.24M)."

Caps-Lightning Game 7 Down, But Playoffs at 21-Year High

 

[Coinneach]

The Sabres’ 4-3 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals Saturday night had a 10.5 rating on MSG that ended with a 14.9 rating during the shootout.
The Sabres’ 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins that started Sunday afternoon had a 9.6 rating on MSG.
For the Sabres’ surprisingly successful early start, the team is averaging an 8.9 rating, up 61 percent from the 5.5 rating they averaged at this point last season.

Bills game gets impressive rating; Sabres ratings up 61 percent from last year

 

[eddygee]

Ya pretty much... A few years ago when the NHL regular season ratings reached a high point the
Hawks, Rangers, Flyers, Bruins and Wings were all decent to great, and their fan bases had reason to have high expectations & optimism. NBCSN just had to keep on televising the above teams, along with Pittsburgh and Washington (the two teams that seem to be able to pull in casual and neutral fans), and the viewership numbers would be OK.

Now, with the exception of perhaps the Bruins, these teams range from meh to terrible and the respective fan bases know it. The other teams in the league, either due to market size and/or the sport being more niche in the market, just aren't capable of pulling in the same number of viewers.

As I said up thread, I guess some good news is the traditional rating drivers haven't featured prominently in the past couple of playoffs and ratings have still trended up... Maybe some of that will eventually spill into the regular season.

...

As far as NBCSN now being the 2nd most viewed sports network... Doesn't this pretty much come down to the Olympics (and maybe some other special events)? Between the regular season being down and the playoffs being up the NHL was a wash, NASCAR continued its decline, and the EPL is down a fair chunk from its high point 2 or 3 years ago.

This is the best explanation I've seen in some months on here. You are right about EPL that craze has come and go EPL hit it's peak in 2015-16 ratings have declined and stagnated and EPL isn't growing their US audience for the first time in maybe 20 some years. Your point on the Olympics is all I was trying to make. The reason was due to the Olympics.