FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 30th, 2014

“NHL STADIUM SERIES” CONTINUES VIEWERSHIP SUCCESS WITH RANGERS-ISLANDERS ON NBCSN

Rangers-Islanders NHL Stadium Series Matchup Sets New York Market Record on NBCSN with 3.58 Rating

New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh Set Local Market Records For NHL Viewership on NBC or NBCSN in January

STAMFORD, Conn. – Jan. 30, 2014 – Last night’s NHL Stadium Series matchup on NBCSN between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders from Yankee Stadium (7:40-10:19 p.m. ET) produced a 3.58 HH rating in the New York market, making it the highest-rated NHL regular-season game ever on NBCSN in that market.

Nationally, the Wednesday Night Rivalry game, in which the Rangers defeated the Islanders 2-1, averaged 682,000 viewers and produced a 0.41 HH rating. The telecast peaked in the 9-9:30 p.m. ET (0.47 HH rating, 748,000 viewers) half hour, as the teams traded goals late in the second period to enter the second intermission tied at one. Viewership was up 6% from NBCSN’s 2013 Wednesday Night Rivalry game average.

Hockey returned to its roots with the NHL Winter Classic and NHL Stadium Series in iconic venues. Each matchup set viewership records or milestones either nationally, or in local markets, on NBC and NBCSN.


NHL STADIUM SERIES – RANGERS-DEVILS

Sunday’s NHL Stadium Series matchup on NBC between the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils from Yankee Stadium (1:27-4:30 p.m. ET) averaged 2.091 million viewers and produced a 1.3 HH rating, making it the most-watched non-regionalized NHL regular-season game on NBC, and the highest-rated single NHL regular-season game ever on NBC, both excluding NHL Winter Classics. Locally, the Rangers-Devils game generated a 5.1 rating in New York, matching the highest rating in the New York market for any NHL game ever broadcast on NBC (Gm. 1 LA-NJ Stanley Cup Final, 5/30/12). Sunday’s broadcast generated the best-ever rating in the New York market for an NHL regular-season game on NBC.

Click here for more ratings information on the Rangers-Devils NHL Stadium Series game.

NHL STADIUM SERIES – DUCKS-KINGS

Saturday night’s NHL Stadium Series matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings from Dodger Stadium, in which the Ducks shut out the Kings 3-0, averaged 622,000 viewers and produced a 0.35 HH rating (10:04 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. ET), up 139% against the average viewership of 2013’s NHL 10pm ET telecasts. The telecast produced a 2.38 rating in Los Angeles, the highest-ever rating in the L.A. market for an NHL regular-season game on NBCSN.

Click here for more ratings information on the Ducks-Kings NHL Stadium Series game.

NHL WINTER CLASSIC – MAPLE LEAFS-RED WINGS

The 2014 NHL Winter Classic on NBC, in which the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout on New Year’s Day, tied as the highest-rated NHL regular-season game in nearly four decades, became the second-most watched such game in 39 years, and is up nearly 20% in both household rating and viewership as compared to the 2012 NHL Winter Classic. The game, which featured only one U.S. team, delivered a 2.5 HH rating and averaged 4.404 million viewers.

Detroit led all markets with an 18.0 rating, the best-ever for that market for a regular-season NHL game on NBC. Chicago (4.3) and Pittsburgh (7.0) also set ratings records in their respective markets for an NHL regular-season game that did not include their home-town teams.

Click here for more ratings information on the Maple Leafs-Red Wings NHL Winter Classic.

NHL STADIUM SERIES – PENGUINS-BLACKHAWKS – MARCH 1, 8 P.M. ET ON NBC

Following the NHL break for the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, the NHL Stadium Series will conclude when the Pittsburgh Penguins face the Chicago Blackhawks at Soldier Field on Saturday, March 1 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, the first regular-season game scheduled for primetime on NBC since the network re-acquired NHL rights in 2006.

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–