Though not the fairy-tale ending for the Washington Capitals I dreamed of, last night's ratings in the local DC market were pretty phenomenal and smashed more records. These numbers are for the local Comscast Sports Network airing. If I get a hold of the national numbers on Versus, I'll post them.
The game seven matchup that the Philadelphia Flyers won in overtime drew a 5.6 household rating in DC, and 3.6 rating in Baltimore. The peak numbers (9:45p-to 10:00p EDT) were an very impressive 8.6 in DC and a 5.1 in Baltimore.
The airing also averaged a 6.0 rating in DC among men 18-49.
Game 7s are indeed the best thing in all of sports!
Those are really great numbers for a city not considered by many as a hockey town. Is it as good as Detroit (Hockeytown USA!)? No. And it's nothing like the Redskins either. But there were three positive trends for the Capitals this year:
- Quality of play was up
- Attendance was up
- TV viewing was up.
Go Caps! 
So what exactly does an 8.6 translate into in terms of actual audience?
So what exactly does an 8.6 translate into in terms of actual audience?
I don’t have viewer numbers, only household where 8.6 = 198,000 homes.
I don't have viewer numbers, only household where 8.6 = 198,000 homes.