RATINGS RAT RACE UPDATE: NBC Scores! Stanley Cup Finals Most Watched In 19 Years
UPDATE, 4:08 PM: The battle for the NHL‘s Stanley Cup is over, and the Chicago Blackhawks were the victors Monday night. Now the final numbers are in and NBC looks to be a winner too with this year’s Stanley Cup Final turning out to be the most watched since 1994, when data first became available. The six-game series between the Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins averaged a 3.3 household rating with 5.76 million viewers on NBC and NBC Sports Network. That’s up 83% in household ratings and 91% million in viewers from the LA Kings-New Jersey Devils series in 2012. Individually, Monday’s 8:15–11 PM ET Game 6 pulled a 3.3/10 rating, up 65% from last year’s 2.0. In terms of household ratings, last night’s game received a 4.7 and was watched by 8.16 million viewers. That’s a rise of 52% and 66%, respectively, from last year’s series-clinching Game 6, resulting in the second-most watched Game 6 since 1994. The Blackhawks’ Cup-clinching on June 9, 2010, against the Philadelphia Flyers was the most-watched Game 6 with 8.28 million viewers. Overall, this year’s NHL playoffs averaged 1.47 million viewers across 84 games on NBC, NBC Sports Network and CNBC. That result is the most-watched playoffs since ESPN, ESPN2 and Fox aired the Stanley Cup in 1997. Compared with the 1.24 million who watched last year’s playoffs on average, the 2013 Stanley Cup was up 18% in viewership.
The Top 10 markets for Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final were:
1. Boston (33.0)
2. Chicago (30.2)
3. Providence (22.5)
4. Buffalo (12.5)
5. Pittsburgh (7.8)
6. Minneapolis-St. Paul (7.3)
7. Milwaukee (7.0)
8. Hartford-New Haven (6.8)
9. Fort Myers (6.3)
10. St. Louis (5.8)
PREVIOUSLY, 8:45 PM: Two late goals 17 seconds apart secured the Chicago Blackhawks the victory in the Stanley Cup Final (3.1/9) last night. Roaring back against the Boston Bruins in the final two minutes of Game 6, the Blackhawks took their fifth Cup in the team’s 87-year history with a 3-2 win. In fast nationals, the 8-11 PM final battle between two of the NHL’s Original Six was up 55% from the 2.0/6 final numbers received by last year’s final game between the victorious LA Kings and the New Jersey Devils on June 11, 2012. Comparing fast nationals to fast nationals, last night’s game was up a stellar 94% from last summer’s Kings-Devils finale. Monday’s game drew a 5.6 household rating, up 40% from last year’s Game 6. Monday’s game was watched by 7.909 million viewers, up 60% from the 4.929 million who watched the comparable game last year. As is typical with such live events, expect an adjustment in the final numbers later today. NBC won the night in adults 18-49 while CBS was tops in total viewers.
Off the ice, Under The Dome (3.2/9) debuted strong on CBS last night at 10 PM. With 13.14 million viewers, the heavily promoted 13-episode summer dystopian series — from Steven Spielberg; Stephen King, on whose 2009 novel the show is based; creator Brian Vaughan; and executive producer Neal Baer — was the best summer premiere total audience for CBS since Big Brother debuted in 2000, which drew 22.5 million viewers. Among adults 18-49, the Amblin TV/DreamWorks TV-produced show was up 68% in the demo for CBS since its last summer drama premiere in 2008 with Flashpoint, which pulled a 1.9/6 on July 11, 2008. Tied with The Following for the second-highest-rated drama debut of the season and No. 1 in terms of total viewers, Under The Dome was the most watched summer premiere on any of the Big 4 since NBC’s The Singing Bee had an audience 13.31 million in 2007. Additionally, it was CBS’ best summer premiere result among 18-49 since the hidden camera series Fire Me…Please debuted in 2005 with a 3.3. Other than Under The Dome, CBS was all encores Monday.
Things were hot, heavy and all original on ABC last night with The Bachelorette (1.9/6) and Mistresses (1.1/3). With one suitor leaving and two getting the boot from Desiree Hartsock as the show began its European episodes, the two-hour reality series was down to eight potential love interests by the end of Monday’s broadcast. It was also up 12% from last week’s show to tie a season high. Meanwhile on Mistresses, the one-hour summer drama dipped 8% to hit a season low.
On Fox, The Goodwin Games (0.6/2) and Anger Management (0.5/1) were the only originals of the night. The burn-off comedy was up 20% from its June 17 show, while the last scheduled network broadcast this summer of Charlie Sheen’s FX show was even with last week. The CW’s season finale of Oh Sit! (0.3/1) was even with its June 17 show.
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