FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 7th, 2014

NBC SPORTS GROUP BEGINS 10TH SEASON AS EXCLUSIVE HOME OF THE NHL TOMORROW NIGHT ON NBCSN

NHL Season Preview Airs Tonight at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN

Season Begins Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN with Flyers-Bruins on Wednesday Night Rivalry, Followed by Sharks-Kings at 10 p.m. ET

STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 7, 2014 – Hockey Starts Tomorrow – NBC Sports Group begins its 10th season* as the exclusive home of the NHL tomorrow night when the puck drops on the 2014-15 season on NBCSN, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET when the Boston Bruins host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday Night Rivalry.

Opening night coverage will continue at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN, when the 2014 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings raise their championship banner to the rafters at STAPLES Center, before hosting the San Jose Sharks.

 

NHL SEASON PREVIEW – TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

NHL Live host Liam McHugh will be joined by former NHL players and analysts Mike Milbury, Keith Jones and Jeremy Roenick on NBCSN’s NHL Season Preview tonight at 8 p.m. ET. The program also feature segments with NHL analysts Eddie Olczyk and Pierre McGuire from Boston as they prepare for Flyers-Bruins, and will feature commentary and analysis of teams around the league heading into the 2014-15 season.

Yesterday, Roenick and Jones gave their take on teams to watch in 2014-15. Click here for their full commentary: http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2014/10/06/nhl-live-analysts-jeremy-roenick-and-keith-jones-preview-upcoming-nhl-season/

Last week, NBC Sports Group’s lead NHL broadcast team of Mike “Doc” Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire, as well as executive producer Sam Flood, previewed the upcoming season on a media conference call. Click here for full transcript: http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2014/10/01/transcript-nbc-sports-group-nhl-face-off-conference-call/

 

NBC SPORTS GROUP BEGINS 10TH SEASON AS EXCLUSIVE HOME OF NHL

The 2014-15 season marks NBC Sports Group’s 10th season* as the exclusive home of the NHL since its rights acquisition prior to the 2005-06 season. NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the 2013-14 NHL season produced numerous ratings highlights, and was the most-watched regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs since rights acquisition in 2005-06.

Following are important ratings milestones, and landmark names and numbers from NBC Sports Group’s past nine years of exclusive NHL coverage:

NAMES AND NUMBERS

  • Over the past nine seasons, NBC Sports Group (NBC, NBCSN/VERSUS/OLN) has presented 1,326 combined NHL regular-season and Stanley Cup Playoff games.
  • Coverage began on Oct. 5, 2005 on OLN – opening night of the 2005-06 season – when the New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 at Wachovia Center.
  • NBC’s coverage began with regional coverage on Jan. 14, 2006, featuring Rangers-Red Wings, Avalanche-Flyers, and Stars-Bruins. Mike “Doc” Emrick, John Davidson and Pierre McGuire had the call on Rangers-Red Wings.
  • Play-by-play broadcasters Mike “Doc” Emrick and Dave Strader, as well as game and studio analysts Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire, Keith Jones and Brian Engblom, have all been a part of NBC Sports Group’s NHL coverage since the 2005-06 season.
  • Kings forward Justin Williams has bookended the network’s Stanley Cup coverage over the past nine years. Williams scored the empty-net goal in Game 7 of the 2006 Final to clinch the Carolina Hurricanes’ victory over the Edmonton Oilers, and also scored for the Los Angeles Kings in Game 5 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final, in which the Kings defeated the New York Rangers to earn the title.
  • In addition, Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, and Kings forwards Jeff Carter and Mike Richards played in games that were part of NBC’s inaugural regional coverage on Jan. 14, 2006, as well as Game 5 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final, NBC’s most recent telecast.

 

RATINGS MILESTONES

  • NBCSN/CNBC’s coverage of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs (77 games) averaged 1.098 million viewers, ranking as the most-watched NHL playoffs on cable since 1997 (1.211 million viewers on ESPN/ESPN2).
  • NBC Sports Group has produced the four most-watched Stanley Cup Final games in the past 40 years, including three games that have eclipsed 8 million average viewers.
  • 2011 – Boston-Vancouver, Game 7 – 8.537 million average viewers
  • 2010 – Chicago-Philadelphia, Game 6 – 8.279 million average viewers
  • 2013 – Chicago-Boston, Game 6 – 8.160 million average viewers
  • 2009 – Pittsburgh-Detroit, Game 7 – 7.992 million average viewers
  • The 2014 NHL Winter Classic on NBC delivered a 2.5 US HH rtg, matching 2009’s Winter Classic as the highest-rated regular-season game in 39 years. The six NHL Winter Classics on NBC have been the six most-watched regular-season games of the past 39 years.

 

Viewership Date Network Game Venue
  1. 4.525 million
 Jan. 1, 2011 NBC Capitals-Penguins Heinz Field
  1. 4.404 million
 Jan. 1, 2014 NBC Maple Leafs-Red Wings Michigan Stadium
  1. 4.401 million
 Jan. 1, 2009 NBC Red Wings-Blackhawks Wrigley Field
  1. 3.751 million
 Jan. 1, 2008 NBC Penguins-Sabres Ralph Wilson Stadium
  1. 3.733 million
 Jan. 2, 2012 NBC Rangers-Flyers Citizens Bank Park
  1. 3.684 million
 Jan. 1, 2010 NBC Flyers-Bruins Fenway Park

 

*NOTE: Prior to the 2005-06 season, NBC Sports had acquired NHL broadcast rights, while Comcast-owned OLN (later re-branded VERSUS) had acquired the cable rights. At that time, NBC Sports and OLN had no affiliation. In 2011, Comcast purchased NBCUniversal and the two companies’ sports assets merged to form the NBC Sports Group. In January 2012, VERSUS was re-branded NBC Sports Network (NBCSN).

– NBC SPORTS GROUP –