Final Ratings: MSG Seeing Gains For Rangers, Devils, Sabres; Maple Leafs Up In Canada

After nearly a month of regular-season action, several NHL teams are seeing big gains on local TV. MSG's Rangers telecasts are averaging a 1.95 local rating in N.Y. through the first 11 games, up 187% compared to the first 11 games aired in October/November last season and 97% compared to the team’s final average last season. The net also is averaging a 0.56 local rating for Devils games, up 143% compared to the season average last season. The Penguins-Devils game last Saturday earned a 1.25 local rating, marking the net’s best Devils game rating since Rangers-Devils in March ’10. The Sabres also saw their highest-ever ratings on MSG for the month of January. The 10.9 local rating in Buffalo during January is 28% higher than the previous record for the month and second-best monthly rating overall since the ’05-06 season (MSG). In Dallas, Barry Horn noted the Stars are averaging a 1.0 local rating through their first 10 games on FS Southwest, up 94% over a 0.51 for the same number of games last season. Conversely, Mavericks games on the net are averaging a 1.7 local rating through 46 games, down 44% compared to last season’s average (DALLASNEWS.com, 2/10). Maple Leafs games also are doing well, as Sportsnet is averaging 920,000 viewers for its regional coverage to date, up 24% from the net's average last season. The team's season opener on the CBC's "HNIC" was the most-watched season opener on record, averaging 3.34 million viewers. Regional coverage on Leafs TV is averaging 474,000 viewers, up 53% over last year's final number (MLSE).

NOTES: In Detroit, Steve Schrader noted 350,000 viewers in the Detroit market watched the State of the Union address on Tuesday night across four local over-the-air stations. That same night, 263,000 viewers in the market tuned in for the Michigan-Michigan State game on ESPN (FREEP.com, 2/13)….ESPN Deportes' coverage of the Caribbean World Series (16 games) was up 38% from last year. The Mexico-Dominican Republic final on Feb. 7 was the net’s most-viewed Caribbean Series game ever among Hispanics homes, despite being an eight-hour telecast (ESPN).

The charts below list final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts.