NHL viewership trends tied to hockey tradition, Northern exposure

NHL teams’ RSN ratings
AVERAGE RATING
Top 5
Team	RSN	Avg. rating
Pittsburgh	FSN Pittsburgh	9.05
Buffalo	MSG	6.51
Detroit	FS Detroit	4.03
St. Louis	FS Midwest	3.29
Boston	NESN	2.77
Bottom 5
Los Angeles	FS West	0.44
Anaheim	Prime Ticket	0.38
N.Y. Islanders	MSG Plus	0.3
Atlanta	SportSouth/FS South	0.26
Florida	FS Florida	0.19
Rating change from 2009-10
Top 5
Team	RSN	Change
St. Louis	FS Midwest	41%
Boston	NESN	36%
Washington	CSN Mid-Atlantic	29%
Tampa Bay	Sun Sports	27%
Los Angeles	FS West	26%
Bottom 5
N.Y. Islanders	MSG Plus	-23%
Atlanta	SportSouth*	-24%
San Jose	CSN California	-27%
Florida	FS Florida	-27%
Columbus	FS Ohio	-41%
VIEWERSHIP
Top 5
Team	RSN	Avg. no. of HHs
Pittsburgh	FSN Pittsburgh	105,000
Chicago	CSN Chicago	89,000
Detroit	FS Detroit	76,000
Boston	NESN	68,000
Philadelphia	CSN Philadelphia	63,000
Bottom 5
Tampa Bay	Sun Sports	14,000
Columbus	FS Ohio	10,000
Phoenix	FS Arizona	9,000
Atlanta	SportSouth/FS South	6,000
Florida	FS Florida	3,000
Note: Viewership data for Carolina, Nashville and the NHL's six Canadian teams was not available. * Information on Thrashers games on FS Atlanta for 2009-10 was not available. Compiled by John Ourand, David Broughton

At the halfway point of its season, the NHL's local TV ratings in the United States are marked by the haves and the have-nots.

The biggest traditional U.S. hockey markets have seen strong growth and big audiences, but the sport still seems to be struggling on TV in the Sun Belt.

GETTY IMAGES The Penguins sit comfortably atop the ratings.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are drawing the biggest local TV audiences leaguewide, with an average of 105,000 homes watching the team's games on FSN Pittsburgh through the All-Star break. The rest of the league's leaders for ratings and viewership are mainly teams in cold-weather markets, including Boston, Chicago and Detroit.

Conversely, teams in warm-weather markets dominate the bottom of the NHL's local TV chart. An average of 3,000 homes watch Panthers games on FS Florida, and an average of 6,000 homes watch Thrashers games on FS South and SportSouth.

One head-scratcher is in Tampa, where the Lightning on the ice went into the All-Star break as the second-place team in the Eastern Conference. On Sun Sports, the team has registered a 27 percent increase to a 0.79 rating, the league's fourth-highest jump, but the Lightning's average of 14,000 homes per game is the league's fifth lowest.

St. Louis games on FS Midwest are up a league-leading 41 percent to an average rating of 3.29. The biggest drop-off has come in Columbus, where Blue Jackets games on FS Ohio have dropped 41 percent.