FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 4th, 2020

OPENING WEEKEND OF NHL QUALIFYING ROUND DELIVERS BLOCKBUSTER VIEWERSHIP

Saturday Night’s Canadiens-Penguins on NBC is Most-Watched NHL Game Of 2019-20 Season, Excluding Winter Classic

Sunday’s Blues-Avalanche is Most-Watched Non-Exclusive NBCSN Game On Record, Excluding Traditional Playoff Games

Weekend Qualifying Round Coverage Across All Networks/Digital Averaged TAD of 760,000 Viewers, Up 91% vs. NBC/NBCSN 2019-20 Regular-Season Average

Six Weekend Qualifying Round Games on NBCSN/USA Network/Digital Averaged TAD of 407,000 Viewers, Up 126% vs. 2019-20 Regular-Season Average for Non-Exclusive Cable Games

STAMFORD, Conn. – Aug. 4, 2020 – NBC Sports’ wall-to-wall coverage of the opening weekend of the NHL Qualifying Round delivered blockbuster viewership across broadcast, cable and digital platforms, according to Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

The weekend included three games on NBC, five on NBCSN, one on USA Network, streaming across digital platforms, and bonus coverage of other games. For the Qualifying Round, all games televised on NBC Sports cable networks are non-exclusive, meaning they are blacked out in the home markets where they are presented by regional sports networks. All games broadcast on NBC are exclusive.

Following are NBC Sports viewership highlights of the opening weekend of the NHL’s Qualifying Round:

  • Across all games on NBC/NBCSN/USA Network/digital, the first weekend (9 games) averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 760,000 viewers, up 91% the NBC/NBCSN 2019-20 regular-season average (98 games; 398,000 viewers).

 

  • The weekend’s six Qualifying Round cable games (NBCSN/USA Network) combined to average a TAD of 407,000 viewers, up 126% NBCSN’s 2019-20 regular-season non-exclusive average with no home markets (180,000).

 

  • Saturday night’s Canadiens-Penguins matchup in primetime on NBC averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.529 million viewers, making it the most-watched NHL game of the 2019-20 season, excluding the Winter Classic. It is also up 42% the 2019-20 regular-season average for games on NBC (1.074 million), excluding the Winter Classic.

 

  • Sunday’s afternoon’s coverage of the Flyers-Bruins Round-Robin game averaged a TAD of 1.445 million viewers on NBC, making it the second-most watched NHL game of the season behind only Saturday night’s Canadiens-Penguins game (1.529 million), excluding the Winter Classic. It is also up 35% the 2019-20 regular-season average for games on NBC (1.074 million), excluding the Winter Classic.

 

  • Sunday’s Blues-Avalanche game averaged a TAD of 684,000 viewers, making it the most-watched non-exclusive NBCSN game with no home markets on record (excluding traditional playoff games) and up 280% the network’s 2019-20 non-exclusive average (180,000 viewers).

 

  • Rangers-Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon on NBCSN – which was the very first NHL game to be played since March 11 – averaged a TAD of 528,000 viewers, making it the second-most watched non-exclusive NBCSN game with no home markets on record (excluding traditional playoff games), behind only Sunday’s Blues-Avalanche game, and up 193% the network’s 2019-20 non-exclusive average (180,000).

–NBC SPORTS–