FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 9th, 2019
2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS ARE MOST-WATCHED ON RECORD THROUGH SECOND ROUND ACROSS NBC SPORTS
Cable Coverage of Stanley Cup Playoffs Are Most-Watched On Record Through Two Rounds
2019 Second Round is Most-Watched Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round On Record
Last Night’s Colorado-San Jose Game 7 Averaged Total Audience Delivery of 1.754 Million Viewers, Up 9% vs. Comparable 2018 Game
2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs Have Live Streamed More Than a Half-Billion Minutes, Up 39% vs. 2018
Carolina, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, St. Louis and San Jose All Set Local Ratings Records
STAMFORD, Conn. – May 9, 2019 – With 34 one-goal games, 15 overtime contests, and five Game 7s through two rounds, the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs are setting national, local and digital viewership and consumption milestones, according to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.
The highlights include:
- For the entire 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, NBC Sports is averaging a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.073 million viewers across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app, making it the most-watched playoffs on record through two rounds.
- NBC Sports’ cable coverage of the 2019 playoffs across NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app, is averaging a TAD of 911,000 viewers, making it the most-watched cable delivery on record through the Second Round.
- The Second Round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs stands as the most-watched Second Round on record, averaging a TAD of 1.621 million viewers across NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.
- Viewers have live streamed more than a half-billion minutes through two rounds (526.8 million), up 39% compared to the same time period last season.
- Carolina, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, St. Louis and San Jose all set local ratings records during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The viewership and consumption records are even more impressive considering the absence of many teams from the largest media markets or with strong hockey histories, such as the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings. In addition, the four teams that played in the past two Stanley Cup Finals – the Washington Capitals (2018), Vegas Golden Knights (2018), Pittsburgh Penguins (2017) and Nashville Predators (2017) – were all eliminated in the First Round this year.
Note: The term “on record” means since 1994, which is the year when People Meters first included cable viewing.
2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
For the 69 games of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, NBC Sports is averaging a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.073 million viewers across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app, making it the most-watched playoffs on record through two rounds. Viewership is up 1% compared to 2018 (1.067 million), which held the previous record through two rounds.
NBC Sports’ cable coverage of the 2019 playoffs across NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app, is averaging a TAD of 911,000 viewers, making it the most-watched cable delivery on record through the Second Round and up 10% compared to last year (825,000).
Following are the Top 10 markets for the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs to date across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC and USA Network:
| Rank | Market | Rating |
| 1 | Buffalo | 2.74 |
| 2 | Boston | 2.38 |
| 3 | St. Louis | 2.23 |
| 4 | Providence | 2.04 |
| 5 | Columbus, Ohio | 1.97 |
| 6 | Denver | 1.87 |
| 7 | Pittsburgh | 1.65 |
| 8 | Minneapolis-St. Paul | 1.39 |
| 9 | Raleigh | 1.30 |
| 10 | Las Vegas | 1.14 |
SECOND ROUND
The Second Round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs are the most-watched Second Round on record, averaging a TAD of 1.621 million viewers for 24 games across NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Viewership was also up 3% vs. last year (1.574 million).
Columbus-Boston Game 5, which followed Kentucky Derby coverage in primetime this past Saturday night, averaged a TAD of 4.618 million viewers, ranking as the second-most watched non-Stanley Cup Final NHL game on television since 1993 and up 7% vs. the comparable game in 2018. It trailed only Chicago-Anaheim (4.636 million), which was a Western Conference Game 7 in 2015.
The top cable game of the Second Round was Boston-Columbus Game 4 on NBCSN, which averaged a TAD of 2.065 million viewers and is the network’s most-watched Second Round Game 4 on record. It was up 15% from the comparable 2018 game.
COLORADO-SAN JOSE GAME 7
Last night’s exciting Colorado-San Jose Second Round Game 7 averaged a TAD of 1.754 million viewers on NBCSN, making it the most-watched late game in four years (Chi-Ana Game 5, 2.092 million) and up 9% vs. last year’s Winnipeg-Nashville Game 7 (1.611 million).
Viewership peaked with nearly 2.1 million viewers. Both Denver and San Jose set viewership milestones for the game. See below.
DIGITAL
Across NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app streaming platforms, the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs to date have totalled 526.8 million live minutes, up 39% compared to the same time last year.
This was also the most streamed Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs ever in Average Minute Audience (AMA) and live minutes streamed. The Second Round totalled 255.2 million live minutes, up 29% compared to the complete Second Round last year. The AMA of 59,700 viewers was up 30% year over year.
The Dallas-St. Louis double overtime Game 7 set Second Round records in AMA, uniques and live minutes. The game delivered an AMA of 103,900 viewers, which stands as the highest AMA on record for a Second Round game. The game’s 328,000 uniques and 25.7 million live minutes also rank as the highest on record for a Second Round game.
Last night’s Colorado-San Jose Game 7 delivered an AMA of 87,700 viewers, which ranks as a Top 3 Second Round AMA and was up 60% compared to last year’s Winnipeg-Nashville Second Round Game 7.
LOCAL
Colorado, Columbus and Dallas all drew NBC Sports’ best NHL ratings ever in their respective markets, while Carolina, St. Louis and San Jose all had NBC Sports’ best Second Round ratings in their markets.
- Carolina: 7.7 for Raleigh for Islanders-Hurricanes Game 3 on NBCSN ranks as NBC Sports’ highest Second Round NHL delivery on record in Raleigh.
- Colorado: 11.2 in Denver for Avalanche-Sharks Game 7 on NBCSN stands as NBC Sports’ highest NHL delivery on record in Denver.
- Columbus: 15.2 for Columbus for Blue Jackets-Bruins Game 5 on NBC ranks as NBC Sports’ highest NHL delivery on record in Columbus.
- Dallas: 5.2 in Dallas for Blues-Stars Game 6 on NBC stands as NBC Sports’ highest NHL delivery on record in Dallas.
- St. Louis: 16.0 in St. Louis for Stars-Blues Game 7 on NBCSN ranks as NBC Sports’ highest Second Round NHL delivery on record in St. Louis.
- San Jose: 5.2 in San Jose for Avalanche-Sharks Game 7 on NBCSN stands as NBC Sports’ highest Second Round NHL delivery on record in San Jose.
–NBC SPORTS–
