STAMFORD, Conn. – Aug. 12, 2020 – On the strength of yesterday’s Columbus-Tampa Bay five-overtime thriller, the first day of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs is NBC Sports’ most-watched first day of the playoffs on record, according to Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
Yesterday’s NBCSN coverage of two First Round Game 1s averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 689,000 viewers, surpassing all other Stanley Cup Playoff first days on record and up 33% vs. last year’s coverage of four games across NBCSN/USA Network (519,000 viewers). This is the first time the Stanley Cup Playoffs have started in August.
In the first game (3:00-9:25 p.m. ET), the Lightning defeated the Blue Jackets 3-2 in the second-longest game of the modern era. In the late game (10:36 p.m. – 1:13 a.m. ET), the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1.
Following are more viewership highlights from the first day of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs:
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