Ratings Roundup: NHL Stadium Series Becomes Most-Watched Regular Season Game in Five Years; DeRozan’s Return Sparks TSN Success

Ratings roundup is a rundown of rating news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, the 2019 NHL Stadium Series finished as the most-watch regular season game on NBC Sports since 2014, a former Raptor’s return to Toronto catapulted the broadcast vs. San Antonio to the top spot in TSN’s basketball history, and the Overwatch League shares its opening week numbers.

OT Thriller at Lincoln Financial Field
Saturday night’s 2019 NHL Stadium Series game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers on NBC averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of nearly two million viewers, making it the most-watched NHL regular-season game in five years, excluding Winter Classics. The battle of Pennsylvania — which was won by the Flyers in overtime, 4-3, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia — was also the most-streamed Stadium Series game ever and set numerous local ratings records. Highlights include:

• The game (8-11:10 p.m. ET) averaged a TAD of 1.965 million viewers, the most for a non-Winter Classic regular-season game in five years, since the 2014 Stadium Series game between the Penguins and Blackhawks (2.767 million).
• The TAD was up 76% vs. the 2018 Stadium Series game between the Maple Leafs and Capitals (1.116 million).
• Penguins-Flyers peaked at 2.653 million viewers during overtime from 11-11:10 p.m. ET.
• The Average Minute Audience (AMA) for Penguins-Flyers across NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app was 22,400 viewers, making it the most-streamed Stadium Series game in history.
• The game also generated a Stadium Series digital record 62,000 uniques and 4.3 million minutes.

Locally, both markets set regular-season records in their respective markets for NBC games, excluding Winter Classics and the regionalized coverage of the 2013 season opener. Pittsburgh delivered a 16.9 local rating, while Philadelphia scored a 6.3 rating. NBC was the No. 1 network in both markets during the game.

Penguins-Flyers delivered a TV-only 1.943 million viewers and 1.14 household rating on NBC.

DeRozan’s Return Places at the Peak for Basketball on TSN
The Toronto Raptors continue to soar to new heights on TSN, as preliminary data from Numeris confirms that the team’s win last Friday night over the San Antonio Spurs attracted an average audience of 710,000 viewers on TSN, making it the most-watched regular season NBA game on record.

With former Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan making an emotional return to Toronto, more than 2.5 million unique Canadian viewers tuned in to watch some part of the game. Audiences peaked at nearly 1.3 million viewers at 9:37 p.m. ET in the fourth quarter, as the Raptors sealed the 120-117 victory.

Overwatch League Opens 2019 Season
As the 2019 season gets underway as Overwatch League’s second go-around, the opening slate was broadcasted in six different languages. The schedule totaled 13 million viewers, a +30% increase from the inaugural year in 2018. The total averague minute audience was 440,000 (+14% year-over-year). Throughout the world, 190+ countries tuned into the stream.