NBC Sports Network earned a 1.1 U.S. rating and 1.85 million viewers for the Rangers triple OT win over the Capitals Wednesday in Game Three of Eastern Conference Semifinals, which marked the longest of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs so far. That figure is up from a 0.8 rating and 1.23 million viewers for the comparable Bruins-Flyers Game Three last year. NBCSN also earned a 4.0 local rating in N.Y. for the game, marking the net's highest NHL rating ever in the market. That figure is up 93% from the local average for the net's Penguins-Rangers series in '08, which was the last time the club made the Conference Semifinals. In DC, the game earned a 6.8 local rating, making NBCSN the top-rated cable net in the market from 7:30pm-12:30am ET. Meanwhile, unique visits to NHL.com were up 24% over the playoff average from 11:00pm-1:00am. During the marathon game, there were 40,651 mentions of the NHL on Twitter (Christopher Botta, SportsBusiness Journal).
ON COURSE: Golf Channel averaged 115,000 total-day viewers during the month of April, up 14% from the same period last year. The net was fueled by its most-viewed Masters week ever. Among ad-supported cable nets which have a U.S. distribution of over 80 million homes, Golf Channel is the fastest-growing network, with viewership up 36% over the last five quarters. The net has seen growth during each of those quarters, which date back to it becoming part of NBC Sports Group. Meanwhile, CBS last weekend finished with a 2.0 final Nielsen rating for the final round of the PGA Tour Zurich Classic of New Orleans, up slightly from a 1.9 rating last year (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
AROUND THE HORN: MLB Network was the beneficiary Wednesday night of a no-hitter from Angels P Jered Weaver. The net aired live coverage of the finish of Twins-Angels during its scheduled “MLB Tonight” broadcast, with ratings up 82% in the quarter hour compared to the previous quarter hour. Additionally on Wednesday night, games decided by walk-off home runs led the Braves (SportSouth), Phillies (Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia) and Nationals (MASN) to each register the best ratings for a Wednesday night MLB game so far this season on their respective RSNs (MLB).
The charts below list final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts. All ratings listed are U.S. ratings. Figures for NBC were not available at presstime.
| TELECAST | DATE | NET | TIME (ET) | RAT. |
| NASCAR Sprint Cup: Capital City 400 (Richmond) | 4/28 | Fox | 7:51-10:44pm | 3.6 |
NBA Western Conference First Round:
Nuggets-Lakers: Game One | 4/29 | ABC | 3:30-6:00pm | 3.3 |
NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Knicks-Heat: Game One | 4/28 | ABC | 3:30-6:00pm | 3.1 |
| PGA Tour: Zurich Classic of New Orleans: Final Round | 4/29 | CBS | 3:00-6:37pm | 2.0 |
| PGA Tour: Zurich Classic of New Orleans: Third Round | 4/28 | CBS | 3:00-6:00pm | 1.2 |
| "NBA Countdown" | 4/28 | ABC | 3:00-3:30pm | 0.7 |
| "NBA Countdown" | 4/29 | ABC | 3:00-3:30pm | 0.7 |
| Monster Energy AMA Supercross (taped) | 4/29 | CBS | 1:00-2:00pm | 0.6 |
| PBR 15/15 Bucking Battles (taped) | 4/28 | CBS | 2:00-3:00pm | 0.5 |
| PGA special: "Get Golf Ready" | 4/29 | CBS | 2:00-3:00pm | 0.5 |
| NCAA Winter Highlight Show | 4/28 | CBS | 1:00-2:00pm | 0.3 |
| TELECAST | DATE | NET | TIME (ET) | RAT. | VIEWERS (000) |
| NFL Draft: Round One | 4/26 | ESPN | 8:00-11:13pm | 4.4 | 6,661 |
| NBA Western Conference First Round: Mavericks-Thunder: Game One | 4/28 | ESPN | 9:41pm-12:21am | 2.7 | 4,115 |
NBA Western Conference First Round:
Clippers-Grizzlies: Game One | 4/29 | TNT | 9:44pm-12:27am | 2.6 | 3,982 |
NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Celtics-Hawks: Game One | 4/29 | TNT | 7:09-9:44pm | 2.6 | 3,971 |
NBA Western Conference First Round:
Jazz-Spurs: Game One | 4/29 | ESPN | 12:58-3:44pm | 2.2 | 3,197 |
| NFL Draft: Rounds Two, Three | 4/27 | ESPN | 7:00-11:04pm | 1.9 | 2,679 |
NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Magic-Pacers: Game One | 4/28 | ESPN | 6:58-9:41pm | 1.7 | 2,551 |
NBA Eastern Conference First Round
: 76ers-Bulls: Game One | 4/28 | TNT | 1:09-3:51pm | 1.6 | 2,475 |
| NBA: Heat-Celtics | 4/24 | TNT | 8:16-10:44pm | 1.4 | 2,220 |
| NBA: Clippers-Knicks | 4/25 | ESPN | 8:05-10:44pm | 1.4 | 2,046 |
