NHL Playoff TV Ratings: Eastern Conference Finals End On Series High

Ratings improved for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, but still ended up lower than last year’s series.

May 29, 2012, 10:14 PM UTC

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The New Jersey Devils overtime victory over the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals drew the best numbers of the series on cable or broadcast.

Game 6 on NBC Sports Network drew 1.60 million viewers last Friday night, easily the best number for the entire series, regardless of network -- it even topped Game 3, which aired on NBC and drew 1.49 million viewers. Viewership was down 1 percent from Game 6 of last year's Eastern Conference final between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning, which drew 1.68 million viewers. It was the closest a game from this year's series came to matching last year's. Having only one local market involved (New Jersey shares the New York TV market) compared to two last year ended up hurting a bit.

The 2012 Eastern Conference finals on NBCSN averaged 1.38 million viewers. This was down 11 percent from the same round in 2011, which averaged 1.54 million viewers through the first five broadcasts on Versus (just like this year, NBC aired one game of last year’s Eastern final). That series ended up averaging 1.70 million viewers, thanks to the 2.55 million who tuned in to see Boston and Tampa Bay play a deciding Game 7, which this year’s series never reached. If you count Game 7, the 2012 Eastern final was down 23 percent from 2011.

2012 Eastern Conference Finals on NBC Sports Network

Game 1 (May 14, 2012): 1.28 million
Game 2 (May 16, 2012): 1.34 million
Game 4 (May 21, 2012): 1.26 million
Game 5 (May 23, 2012): 1.43 million
Game 6 (May 25, 2012): 1.60 million

Most-Watched Games of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs on NBC Sports Network

1. NY Rangers vs. Washington Capitals, Game 3 (May 2, 2012): 1.85 million
2. Washington vs. NY Rangers, Game 7 (May 12, 2012): 1.68 million
3. Philadelphia Flyers vs. New Jersey, Game 3 (May 3, 2012): 1.66 million
t4. Washington vs. NY Rangers, Game 5 (May 7, 2012): 1.65 million
t4. NY Rangers vs. Washington, Game 6 (May 9, 2012): 1.65 million
6. Philadelphia vs. New Jersey, Game 4 (May 6, 2012): 1.63 million
7. NY Rangers vs. New Jersey, Game 6 (May 25, 2012): 1.60 million
8. Washington vs. NY Rangers, Game 2 (April 30, 2012): 1.53 million
9. New Jersey vs. NY Rangers, Game 5 (May 23, 2012): 1.43 million
10. New Jersey vs. NY Rangers, Game 2 (May 16, 2012): 1.34 million
11. Washington vs. Boston, Game 7 (April 25, 2012): 1.32 million
12. New Jersey vs. Philadelphia, Game 5 (May 8, 2012): 1.31 million
13. New Jersey vs. Philadelphia, Game 2 (May 1, 2012): 1.29 million
14. New Jersey vs. NY Rangers, Game 1 (May 14, 2012): 1.28 million
15. NY Rangers vs. New Jersey, Game 4 (May 21, 2012): 1.26 million
16. Los Angeles Kings vs. Phoenix Coyotes, Game 5 (May 22, 2012): 1.21 million