LaxSabre - Heres a column on ratings for last nights Sabres game - the ratings for Bell viewership are not factor in here since Canadian ratings are separate.
Sabres Opening Loss Gets Strong TV Rating - Alan Pergament - Buffalo News - Friday, October 9.
The Buffalo Sabres lost their home opener to Ottawa Thursday night, but they were winners off the ice.
The Madison Square Garden Network coverage of the Sabres’ 3-1 loss to the Senators had a 10.7 rating on the cable channel.
That was up about 15 percent from the 9.4 rating a year ago for the Sabres home opener against Columbus.
Thursday's rating might have even been higher if the first two periods hadn't been so dull.
The Sabres rating also was higher than the 10.2 rating that Channel 4 had for Indianapolis’ 27-20 victory over Houston on CBS’ Thursday Night Football game.
However, the game also had a 1.9 rating on the simulcast by cable‘s NFL Network for a combined rating of 12.1 that was higher than the Sabres rating.
To put the rating in further perspective, very few entertainment programs get double-digit ratings locally these days when they originally air.
So it was no surprise that the prime time programs on broadcast channels were no match for the LIVE sports events on Thursday.
The highest-rated entertainment program in Western New York Thursday was ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” which had a 7.4 rating on Channel 7.
NBC’s “Blacklist” was the second-highest rated entertainment program with a 6.5 rating on Channel 2.
Those two entertainment programs stand to get increased audience through secondary viewing On Demand or on DVRs.
LIVE sports events get little extra viewing that way.
http://talkintv.buffalonews.com/2015/10/09/sabres-opening-loss-gets-strong-tv-rating/