Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Watching The NBC Sports Group

04/22/2014 at 2:20pm EDT

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 22, 2014 – On the strength of a new playoff format that has emphasized divisional rivalries in the first round, NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the first five days of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs has generated significant viewership and consumption increases for its coverage across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC and NBC Sports Live Extra, the live streaming product for NBC Sports Group.

Interest in this year’s postseason has been bolstered by:

  • Six two-goal comebacks so far this postseason, just two fewer than the total of eight for the entire 2013 playoffs.
  • Twelve one-goal games;
  • The Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings meeting in the postseason for the first time since 1957;
  • The New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers matching up in the playoffs for the first time in 17 years;
  • The Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues meeting for the first time in 12 years

Following are viewership highlights through the first five days of the playoffs (April 16-20):

CABLE COVERAGE

NBCSN is averaging 621,000 viewers (10 games), up 61% vs. 2013 (386,000 for 10 games). In its third year of televising Stanley Cup Playoff games, CNBC is averaging 295,000 viewers (four games), its best ever through five days and up 25% vs. 2013 (236,000 for seven games).

Overall cable coverage (NBCSN and CNBC), which is blacked out in the home markets during the first round, is averaging 521,000 viewers (14 games), up 63% compared to the first five days of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs (320,000 for 17 games).

With 850,000 viewers, Saturday’s Columbus-Pittsburgh Game 2 ranks as NBCSN’s most-watched game in the first week of the playoffs on record. The contest peaked at 1.2 million viewers from 10:15-10:30 p.m. ET.

NBC COVERAGE

NBC aired three 2014 Stanley Cup Playoff games this past weekend, however, final viewership figures are only available for Saturday’s matchup. Game 2 of the Blackhawks-Blues (3-6:30 p.m. ET, OT) averaged 1.855 million viewers, up 52% from the comparable game in 2013 (NYR-Was, 1.217 viewers, 5/4/13).

Overnight ratings for Sunday’s playoff doubleheader were both up vs. the comparable games in 2013. In the early contest, Game 2 of Flyers-Rangers (12-3 p.m. ET) delivered a 1.6 overnight, up 14% vs. Penguins-Islanders Game 3 (1.4, 5/5/13). In the late window (3-6 p.m. ET), Red Wings-Bruins Game 2 produced a 1.8 rating in the metered markets, up 20% vs. Blackhawks-Wild Game 3 (1.5, 5/5/13).

LIVE STREAMING

Through the first five days, NBC Sports Live Extra’s live streaming coverage of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs has delivered 18.8 million minutes, 206,000 unique viewers, 508,000 visits and 1.22 million live starts. Those figures are up 532% (2.98 million minutes), 482% (36,000 uniques), 469% (89,000 visits), and 739% (145,000 live starts), respectively, vs. the first five days of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Games are averaging 1.11 million minutes consumed, 26,000 unique viewers, 30,000 visits and 72,000 live starts in 2014. Game 1 of Blackhawks-Blues, which went into triple overtime, has generated the most consumption with 2.7 million minutes.

All games airing on NBCSN and CNBC were streamed via “TV Everywhere,” the media industry’s effort to make quality content available to authenticated customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

Following are the top five games in minutes consumed (*Required authentication):

April 17

Game 1

Blackhawks-Blues

2.70 million*

April 19

Game 2

Blackhawks-Blues

2.40 million

April 20

Game 2

Red Wings-Bruins

1.85 million

April 20

Game 2

Flyers-Rangers

1.57 million

April 19

Game 2

Blue Jackets-Penguins

1.54 million*

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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