NBC’s opening day coverage posts best regular season ratings since 2002
Jan 20, 2013, 2:41 PM EDT
The wounds of the lockout might persist, but NBC’s opening day ratings shows that NHL fans are aware that hockey is back.
NBC’s NHL regional two-game coverage (Chicago at Los Angeles and Pittsburgh at Philadelphia) earned a 2.0 overnight rating, which earned some impressive milestones if you exclude Winter Classic telecasts:
- That mark represents the best NHL regular season game rating on any network since 2002.
- Logically enough, that means it’s the highest-rated regular season contest since NBC took over NHL coverage in 2006.
- This represents a 67-percent increase from last season’s average for NHL-on-NBC telecasts and an 82-percent increase from the most comparable weekend (Chicago at Detroit on Jan. 14, 2012) from 2011-12.
- Chicago (6.6 rating), Philadelphia (7.8) and Pittsburgh (19.4) enjoyed record regional regular season ratings. Los Angeles’ 1.5 mark is the best in that market since March 4, 2007.
- Buffalo (6.6) and Boston (2.5) rounded out the top five markets.
Hopefully fans stick around for more coverage during this shortened season. Speaking of which, the Buffalo Sabres currently host the Philadelphia Flyers on NBC as of this writing.
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His Twitter feed teases “a big day” on Tuesday.
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Hawks’ Smith goes from lunch with mom to playing for Hossa
Jun 18, 2013, 12:02 AM EDT
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Just a “wild night” for a Black Ace.
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Odd timing, but big news.
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Led by Patrice Bergeron, who scored a goal and was practically unbeatable in the faceoff circle.
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Dennis Seidenberg: “It feels like sandpaper.”
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“It’s a low-chance game and a low-chance series,” he said.
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Joel Quenneville said it was “definitely not good.”
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He was a game-time decision for Game 3.
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A masterful performance by Boston.
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Nathan MacKinnon says Sidney Crosby opened doors for small-town players
Jun 17, 2013, 10:15 PM EDT
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Both are much-hyped forwards from Cole Harbour, Novia Scotia.
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Video: Jagr sets up Bergeron, moves ahead of Coffey on all-time playoff scoring list
Jun 17, 2013, 10:10 PM EDT
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He owns fifth place with 197 points.
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Big results for his line with Tyler Seguin and Chris Kelly.
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Does that mean it could fall through?
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Big (and surprising) loss for the Chicago Blackhawks.
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Chris Mason’s amazing beard couldn’t mask lousy numbers.
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Multiple sources expect buyouts for Ilya Bryzgalov and Daniel Briere.
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23-year-old was the club’s second-round pick in 2008.
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Reports: Vigneault gets five-year, $10 million contract to coach Rangers
Jun 17, 2013, 5:04 PM EDT
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Former Canucks bench boss cashes in.
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Just five days after acquiring him from the Islanders.
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Interesting, given he’s probably going to get traded this summer.
