After four games, this year's Stanley Cup Final between the Los Angeles Kings and the New Jersey Devils is in danger of having the second lowest TV viewership average since at least 1995 (perhaps earlier, I lack the data). Our polled readers turned out to have been wildly optimistic.
- Game 1, NBC, 2.90 million average viewers (vs. 4.56m for last year's game 1 on NBC)
- Game 2, NBC, 2.94 million (vs. 3.57m last year on NBC)
- Game 3, NBCSN, 1.74 million (vs. 2.76m last year on Versus)
- Game 4, NBCSN, 2.07 million (vs. 2.71m last year on Versus)
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- Because of the strike compressed NBA season, Stanley Cup Final matches have gone head to head with NBA Conference Finals games which would not be the case during a normal NBA season.
- While LA and NY are the two largest US TV markets, neither team generates enthusiasm among a significant portion of those large markets, as opposed to how Boston, Chicago, Detroit or Pittsburgh would.
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NHL Stanley Cup Finals TV Ratings, 1995-2011
| Year | Net | Games | Household rating | Household Share | Average Households (million) | Average Viewers (million) | Teams |
| 2011 | NBC/VS** | 7 | 2.7 | 5 | 4.6 | Boston v. Vancouver | |
| 2010 | NBC/VS** | 6 | 3.4 | 6 | Chicago v. Philadelphia | ||
| 2009 | NBC/VS** | 7 | 3.1 | 6 | Pittsburgh v. Detroit | ||
| 2008 | NBC/VS | 6 | 2.6 | 5 | 2.929 | 4.479 | Pittsburgh vs. Detroit |
| 2007 | NBC/VS | 5 | 1.2 | 2 | 1.307 | 1.764 | Ottawa vs. Anaheim |
| 2006 | NBC/OLN** | 7 | 1.8 | 3 | 1.994 | 2.834 | Carolina vs,Edmonton |
| 2005 | NHL Season Cancelled | ||||||
| 2004 | *ABC/ESPN | 7 | 2.2 | 4 | 2.366 | 3.286 | Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Calgary Flames |
| 2003 | *ABC/ESPN | 7 | 2.4 | 4 | 2.557 | 3.627 | New Jersey Devils vs. Anaheim Ducks |
| 2002 | ABC | 3 | 3.6 | 7 | 3.815 | 5.768 | Detroit Red Wings vs. Carolina Hurricanes |
| 2001 | ABC | 5 | 3.3 | 6 | 3.371 | 5.058 | Colorado Avalanche vs. New Jersey Devils |
| 2000 | ABC | 4 | 3.7 | 8 | 3.734 | 5.511 | New Jersey Devils vs. Dallas Stars |
| 1999 | FOX | 3 | 3.4 | 6 | 3.379 | 4.873 | Dallas Stars vs. Buffalo Sabres |
| 1998 | FOX | 1 | 3.3 | 6 | 3.230 | 4.830 | Detroit Red Wings vs. Washington Capitals |
| 1997 | FOX | 1 | 4.0 | 8 | 3.930 | 6.370 | Detroit Red Wings vs. Philadelphia Flyers |
| 1996 | FOX | 2 | 3.6 | 7 | 3.430 | 5.090 | Colorado Avalanche vs. Florida Panthers |
| 1995 | FOX | 2 | 3.4 | 8 | 3.254 | 5.210 | New Jersey Devils vs. Detroit Red Wings |
*ABC had 5 telecasts & ESPN had 2 telecasts so this is the combined average of both networks.
**2006 NBC had 5 telecasts & OLN had 2 telecasts so this is the combined average of both networks. 2009 NBC had 5 games, Versus had 2 games. 2010 NBC had 4 games, Versus had 2 games. 2011 NBC had 5 games, Versus had 2 games.
Data for 2006-11 is Live+SD, all previous years is Live viewing.
I know that average viewership and household ratings are meaningless to the business of NBC and NBCSN, but like most historical data that's all we've got.
Unfortunately, while the 2009 and 2010 Stanley Cup Final household ratings were well above those for any year since 2002, I was unable to find average viewership for the SCF as a whole for those years. I could only find the NBC telecast viewership averages (which were 6.1 million for 4 games in 2010, and 5.6 million for 5 games in 2009).
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2012 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
That’s still on?? Who knew????
Again, if it was Rangers and Kings it would be 4 million plus each game easily!
the rangers/kings would not have 4+ million
@Matt, yes they would.
yeah but you’re comparing the ratings for BRUINS versus these dog teams. You can’t expect viewership to equal a series with the Boston Bruins in it.
@Nadine
and Vancouver. Yes the CBC numbers aren’t counted but the ‘Nucks have plenty of american fans, and they are “the Most Hated team in Hockey” so like the heat they had plenty of people watching to see them loose.
But yeah Central and Northeast teams draw the best, with some Atlantic (NY,PItts) in there
it’s June dude. LA people are on the beach… not on the ice.
The Rangers would have set record ratings-they always have, for the few tims theyve actually PLAYED in the Cup Finals. Esp if it was Rangers/Ducks! And going up against the NBA EVERY night they play doesnt help, either. Now, this weekend, after the Celts finish off the overrated Heat, there should be a few nighta off, so maybe there could be some “heat” off the ice! But all I can say is,,LETS GO RANGERS!
@TatiG
Less beach and more the fact that LA people couldn’t watch it because NBC didn’t show it.
NBC NEEDS THIS TO GO SEVEN GAMES. JUST FOR THE BOTTOM LINE.
Also, hockey, A FREAKING ICE–BASED SPORT, is still being played and broadcasted IN JUNE.
The season is either too long, or starts too late in my opinion. When it’s June, 99% of the people in the world are NOT thinking about an ICE-based sport. If they held the Stanley Cup Finals in/at the end of February, beginning of March, I actually feel as if they would average at least 4 million viewers……for some reason though.
Oh oops. After seeing how high the numbers have been in the past, I’m going to bump up that number from “at least 4 million viewers” to at least 6 or 7.
In case anyone is curious here are the overnight numbers for the games from Canada.
CBC gm 1 – Wednesday – 2.129 M
CBC gm 2 – Saturday – 2.569 M
CBC gm 3 – Monday – 2.155 M
CBC gm 4 – Wednesday – n/a at this time
CBC gm 5 – Saturday – n/a, future date
And here is what the overnights were for Vancouver v Boston last year:
CBC gm 1 – Wednesday – 5.640 M
CBC gm 2 – Saturday – 5.633 M
CBC gm 3 – Monday – 5.421 M
CBC gm 4 – Wednesday – 5.348 M
CBC gm 5 – Friday – 6.105 M
CBC gm 6 – Monday – 6.639 M
CBC gm 7 – Wednesday – 8.760 M
Yeah, that is right… about 1/4 of the country watched game 7 last year. Even with the numbers being overall lower it is still kind of pathetic that two US teams draw a straight-up larger audience in Canada when the population of the metropolitan areas the teams are based in is rather close to the entire population of Canada. But then again last year the US average was lower than the lowest number for any of the games viewed in Canada. Why is it that the NHL is in the US?
@Jessica…
Are those numbers demo? I mean between 18-49? I know Canada’s population is a little older on avg.
The US numbers presented here are demo 18-49… The numbers would be higher if no demo.
I doubt there are that many young people in Canada.
NHL>>>>>>NFL, and Baseball
tatiG, look closer at the post and the other comments… you are the first person to mention any demographic other than households or even use the word “demo”.
Bill even wrote: I know that average viewership and household ratings are meaningless to the business of NBC and NBCSN, but like most historical data that’s all we’ve got.
When you write “The US numbers presented here are demo 18-49″ you are entirely, completely, 100% WRONG. On most any other topic you would be correct but not here.
Comparing total viewers in Canada with total and average viewers in the US is apples and apples. The NHL is not as popular in the US tv market as you appear to think it is.
GO DEVILS!
1) Mr. Gorman has it: this season, the SCF was up all the time against NBA-Semifinals.
2) Devils are ratings’ poison in the Nation’s largest market, yet more so after they just eliminated the Rangers.
3) Contrary to a hugely popular misconception, despite all the hype, Kings are in NO WAY a big draw in the LA-area.
4) While lil’ me watched every single second of every game, neither team instill any excitement in other big markets.
Not even love/hate like a matchup the likes of either Canucks/Red Wings/Blackhawks vs Bruins/Rangers/Flyers or, yes, Penguins would.
That said: GO PENS!
I agree, NoName Rex. Hockey in June is extremely uninteresting.
jessica, I found this line very compelling: “it is still kind of pathetic that two US teams draw a straight-up larger audience in Canada when the population of the metropolitan areas the teams are based in is rather close to the entire population of Canada.”
To those who say “apples and oranges” to that, remember that was not a comparison of Canada to U.S. It was a comparison of Canada to the *two metropolitan areas whose teams are in the series*.
Malleus, that’s consistent with a lot of the Super Bowl ratings analysis I recall seeing here, where relatively small market teams like Pittsburgh and Green Bay are considered hugely outsized national draws because of history and rivalries and all that.