from Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune,

What’s the most significant loss for the Blackhawks in the three seasons since their last Stanley Cup championship?

Forget about players and playoff series, or even the postseason berth they failed to earn this year for the first time in a decade.

It’s local TV viewers, who have bailed on the team in droves.

The Blackhawks’ cable TV ratings on their home outlet have plummeted 45 percent in those three seasons, from a 4.3 average household rating in the Chicago area in 2014-15 to 2.36.

Combined with there being fewer TV homes in this market, that represents a loss of 71,708 local homes, per Nielsen estimates.

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