FS Midwest on Monday night drew a 19.6 local rating in St. Louis for the Blues' Game 7 win over the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, marking the most-watched telecast in the history of the net. The rating peaked at a 25.3 near the end of the game. Before Monday, the highest-rated telecast in the net's history was the MLB Cardinals' finale of the '11 regular season. The game, which saw the Cardinals beat the Astros and clinch a playoff berth, drew an 18.0 rating. The previous high for a Blues game was a 15.0 for Thursday's Game 5. CSN Chicago also drew its highest-rated telecast ever with Blues-Blackhawks Game 7, drawing a 19.07 rating. The previous high was a 13.69 rating for Game 3 of Bulls-Pacers in the first round of the '11 NBA Playoffs. Blues-Blackhawks peaked at a 23.89 between 10:00-10:15pm CT and also gave CSN Chicago its best ever rating in the 25-54 demo. CSN Chicago averaged a 12.14 rating for the series, up 22% over last year's Blackhawks-Predators first round matchup, which went six games (THE DAILY).
CAPITAL GAINS: In DC, Scott Allen reported CSN Mid-Atlantic's five broadcasts of the Capitals' first-round series against the Flyers averaged a 4.09 local rating, up 25% over the net's "five first-round games between the Capitals and the Islanders last season." That included a Game 7 the Capitals won. NBC this year "handled the broadcast for Sunday's series-clinching Game 6 victory" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 4/26).
