Stanley Cup Ratings Roundup: Game 7 Audience Sets Records in U.S., Canada, Boston

Despite a lull in middle of the series, the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals finished strong as 8.54 million people watched Game 7 on NBC, the largest U.S. audience for any NHL game in 38 years (5/10/73, Montreal-Chicago, 9.4 million on NBC). The game’s 4.8/8 rating/share is the highest for an NHL game in 37 years (5/19/74, Boston-Philadelphia, 7.6/27 on NBC).

The game was up 3% in viewership and 2% in ratings from last year’s deciding Game 6 overtime thriller between the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers (8.28 million and 4.7/6). It is up 7% in viewership and 12% in rating compared to the most recent Game 7 in 2009 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings (7.99 million and 4.3/8). The 8.54 million viewers makes last night’s game the most-watched Game 7 in 40 years (5/18/71, Montreal-Chicago, 12.4 million on CBS)…

…NBC’s five-game average audience of 5.31 million and 3.1/6 is the best for a network Stanley Cup Final featuring a Canadian team in 38 years (6.8/15 and 7.4 million for three games in 1973 on NBC). Overall the seven-game series (Games 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 on NBC and Games 3, 4 on VERSUS) averaged 4.6 million viewers and a household rating of 2.7/5, surpassing the 2004 series (3.3 million, 2.2/4 on ABC/ESPN) as the most-watched combined network/cable Stanley Cup involving a Canadian team ever…

…In terms of North America as a whole, the series was the most-watched in Stanley Cup Final history with 11.5 million combined viewers (records go back to 1994). Game 7 of the series led the way, averaging a record 18.3 million viewers in the U.S. and Canada, also a North American viewership record for any NHL game on record…

…In Canada, the 8.76 million viewers on CBC for Game 7 is an all-time best for any NHL game on the network and the second most-watched sports program ever on CBC, behind only the 2002 Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Final between USA and Canada (8.96 million). The 8.76 million viewers is a 148% increase over the 2009 Game 7. On French-language RDS, the game attracted 1.043 million viewers…

…The Boston market earned a 43.4/64 rating/share, the best overnight on record for a hockey game in Boston (dating back to 1991) and the best overnight in the Boston market featuring a Boston team in any major sports championship since Super Bowl XLII (Patriots-Giants, 55.6 on 2/3/08). Boston’s seven-game average for the Stanley Cup Final (five games on NBC, two games on VERSUS) was a 28.1/44, 12% higher than ABC’s seven-game Boston average for last year’s NBA Finals (25.0/40 for Boston-LA Lakers).

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