STAMFORD, Conn. – June 5, 2014 – The first game of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final between the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings averaged 4.777 million viewers, making it NBC’s second-most watched Stanley Cup Final Game 1 ever and the second-most watched Game 1 overall since 1999. NBC won the night in primetime among P18-49 with a 1.9 rating.
The game (8:00-11:17 p.m. ET), in which the Kings defeated the Rangers 3-2 in overtime, drew 4.777 million viewers and a 3.0 HH rating. Game 1 was up 65% in viewership compared to the last time the Kings were in the Stanley Cup Final (2.902 million in 2012) and up 212% vs. the last time the Rangers appeared (1.532 million, ESPN, 1994; not including RSN viewership in New York). The only Game 1 on NBC to surpass last night’s viewership was last year’s triple-overtime thriller between the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks, which averaged 6.358 million.
The game peaked at 5.7 million viewers from 10:45-11:00 p.m. ET.
PRIMETIME
Game 1 was a winner for NBC. The network won the night by 27% in A18-49 over its nearest competitor (FOX, 1.5); ranked No. 1 from 8-11 p.m. ET among the four major broadcast networks in A18-34, A18-49 and A25-54; and ranked No. 1 or tied for No. 1 among the major broadcast networks in A18-49 for all six primetime half-hours.
Among M18-49, Rangers-Kings led primetime among the four major broadcast networks by 150% over its nearest competitor with a 2.5 rating vs. ABC’s 1.0. In M18-34, Game 1 delivered a 2.2 rating, more than the other three networks combined (1.7).
LOCAL
New York delivered its best NHL rating ever on NBC/NBCSN with a 10.1 metered market rating, surpassing last week’s 8.5 rating for the Eastern Conference Final Game 6 on NBCSN.
Los Angeles drew a 7.1 metered market rating, ranking as L.A.’s third-best ever on NBC, trailing only Games 5 and 6 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final, which were both championship-clinching games for the Kings (they won it in Game 6).
NBC was the No. 1 network in both markets during the game.
Following are the Top 10 markets from last night’s Stanley Cup Final Game 1 on NBC:
Rank | Market | HH Rating |
1 |
New York |
10.1 |
2 |
Buffalo |
8.5 |
3 |
Los Angeles |
7.1 |
4 |
Boston |
6.8 |
5 |
Providence |
5.4 |
6 |
Minn.-St. Paul |
5.1 |
7 |
Pittsburgh |
4.7 |
8 |
Denver |
4.5 |
9 |
Detroit |
4.0 |
9 |
Las Vegas |
4.0 |
DIGITAL
Rangers-Kings delivered NBC Sports Live Extra’s the most unique viewers for an NHL live stream with 177,860 (90,635 desktop, 87,225 mobile). Viewers consumed 6,494,189 million minutes for the overtime contest; third-best ever for an NHL game behind last year’s Bruins-Blackhawks Stanley Cup Final triple-overtime Game 1 (8.9 million minutes) and Sunday night’s Western Conference Final overtime Game 7 between the Kings and Blackhawks (8.1 million minutes).
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