FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 24th, 2012

DEVILS-RANGERS GAME 6 AIRS TOMORROW NIGHT AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK

(Devils lead series 3-2) Western Conference Finals Viewership Up 18% New York Generates Best-Ever NHL Rating on NBC Sports Network for Devils-Rangers Game 5

NEW YORK – May 24, 2012Day 44 – The NBC Sports Group’s exclusive coverage of the 2012 NHL Conference Finals continues tomorrow on NBC Sports Network with a crucial Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The #6 New Jersey Devils lead the series 3-2 and host the #1 New York Rangers Friday night at the Prudential Center at 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. With a win, the Devils can advance to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2003. The Eastern Conference winner will meet the Los Angeles Kings. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET with NHL Live.

Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst) and Pierre McGuire (‘Inside-the-glass’ analyst) will call the action

 REMAINING EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL SCHEDULE

Friday, May 25    
8 p.m. #1 NYR @ #6 NJD (Game 6) NBC Sports Network
Sunday, May 27

 
8 p.m. #6 NJD @ #1 NYR (Game 7)* NBC Sports Network

*If Necessary

VIEWERSHIP

The 2012 Western Conference Finals, won in five games by the Los Angeles Kings over the Phoenix Coyotes, averaged 1.02 million viewers for the four games on NBC Sports Network, up 18 percent over last year’s Western Conference Finals (San Jose-Vancouver, 863,000). NBC Sports Network aired Games 1, 2, 3 and 5. NBC aired Game 4, averaging 1.4 million viewers, down slightly vs. last year (San Jose-Vancouver, 1.5 million).

 

For Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, played last night between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, the New York market registered a 6.47 rating, the best rating for the market ever for an NHL game on NBC Sports Network. The telecast surpassed NBC Sports Network’s previous best rating in New York, which was a 6.21 for Game 1 of the same series. The NBC Sports Network was the No. 1 cable network in New York during the game. National ratings for Game 5 and the Eastern Conference Finals to date will be available later today.

 

Overall, the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs are averaging 973,000 viewers on NBC Sports Network through Tuesday, May 22, up 21% vs. last year (805,000).

 

PRAISE FOR MIKE ‘DOC’ EMRICK

Twitter was abuzz with acclaim for Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick last night as he called the play-by-play for Rangers- Devils Game 5.

  • Brian Costello, New York Post writer: “Doc Emrick is absolutely amazing at his job.”
  • Art Stapleton, The Record writer: “What Gus Johnson does/did for March Madness, Doc Emrick does for the NHL Playoffs. Incredible.”
  • Wes Durham, voice of George Tech and Atlanta Falcons: “Whether it’s game 5 or game 7. Give me Doc Emrick in a 3rd period tie any night of the playoffs. #sogooditssick”

KINGS OF THE WEST

Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Penner scored at 17:42 of overtime against the Phoenix Coyotes to send the Kings to the Stanley Cup Final for the first since 1993 and the second time in franchise history. Penner’s decisive goal was his first career playoff overtime goal.

2012 STANLEY CUP FINAL SCHEDULE

All 2012 Stanley Cup Final games will air exclusively on NBC or the NBC Sports Network. Following is the schedule as released by the NHL (all times ET and subject to change):

Wednesday, May 30
8 p.m. L.A. Kings @ Eastern Champion (Game 1) NBC
Saturday, June 2
8 p.m. L.A. Kings @ Eastern Champion (Game 2) NBC
Monday, June 4
8 p.m. Eastern Champion @ L.A. Kings (Game 3) NBC Sports Network
Wednesday, June 6
8 p.m. Eastern Champion @ L.A. Kings (Game 4) NBC Sports Network
Saturday, June 9
8 p.m. L.A. Kings @ Eastern Champion (Game 5) * NBC
Monday, June 11
8 p.m. Eastern Champion @ L.A. Kings (Game 6) * NBC
Wednesday, June 13
8 p.m. L.A. Kings @ Eastern Champion (Game 7)* NBC

* If Necessary

CHANNEL FINDER

With all 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games airing nationally for the first time, the NBC Sports Group created a channel finder to help fans find NBC and NBC Sports Network in their area by simply entering a zip code.

Click here for the channel finder.

PRE-GAME & POST-GAME COVERAGE

NHL Live, NBC Sports Network’s NHL pre-game show, will air every game night before the puck drops. NHL Post-Game will air 30 minutes following the conclusion of game coverage every night of the playoffs.

GAMES TELEVISED SO FAR

For the first time in the 95-year history of the NHL, every Stanley Cup Playoff game will be televised nationally. The NBC Sports Group is providing unprecedented access to the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs in April, May and June, televising as many as 89 playoff games and possibly more than 262.5 hours of programming. Games will be presented on NBC, the NBC Sports Network, the NHL Network, and NBCUniversal’s business channel CNBC in primetime.

NBC Sports Network

48*

CNBC

13

NBC

12

NHL Network

6

Total

79*

 

* Includes Devils-Panthers Conference Quarterfinal Game 7 that was joined in progress