The New York Islanders helped Michelle Beadle to a series high for a rerun

The New York Islanders helped Michelle Beadle get the most exposure she’s gotten yet with her new NBC Sports Network show... unfortunately, it was with a 4-hour old rerun, and it was still pretty low.

Beadle’s new series, The Crossover (we’ll be reviewing it next week), drew just 36,000 viewers in it’s debut, while dropping down to 24,000 for day two. This is just slightly above the 21,000 NBC Sports Talk was hitting the week before in the same timeslot. The late night rerun of Crossover, however, benefitted from an NHL lead-in and drew a (technical) series high of 86,000 viewers. How long until The Crossover, like The Daily Line before it, becomes a post-NHL show rather than a pre-NHL one?

As for the hockey game that aired before it? Well, your expectations are low for an Islanders-Penguins game, especially when the game was blacked out and shown on ROOT Sports on Pittsburgh. The numbers weren’t dire, however, as the game hit 245,000 viewers. That was a big improvement on the Isles lone NBCSN/VERSUS telecast from last season, a Nov. 7 showdown with the Bruins which was similarly blacked out in Boston, which drew just 195,000 viewers. The Islanders were also featured nationally last year when they took on Pittsburgh in Sidney Crosby’s comeback game. The tilt was blacked out in New York and Pittsburgh, and drew just 198,000 viewers.

The NHL on NBC Sports Network has averaged 450,000 viewers through six telecasts. Through six telecasts last season, VERSUS was averaging 303,000 viewers. Remember, of course, that those games were in early October.

Tuesday, Jan. 29

7:30 p.m. ET, NY Islanders vs. Pittsburgh - 245,000 viewers