NHL Playoff Viewership Up 35.5% On Versus Through Two Rounds
Versus averaged 457,955 viewers per game for 41 broadcasts through the first two rounds of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, an increase of 35.5% from 337,888 viewers for 40 broadcasts during the first two rounds in '07. The net also averaged a 0.5 coverage area rating for the first two rounds, up from a 0.4 last year. The net's coverage of 15 second-round games averaged 615,744 viewers, up 55.2% from 396,813 viewers for 17 telecasts last season. Penguins-Rangers Game Four on May 1 averaged a 1.1 coverage area rating and 1.2 million viewers, marking the net's highest-rated and most-viewed NHL telecast. The following lists Versus' most-viewed games for the current Stanley Cup playoffs (THE DAILY).
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MOST-VIEWED '08 NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF TELECASTS ON VERSUS
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DATE
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DAY
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START
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GAME
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COV. RATING
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VIEWERS (000)
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5/1
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Thurs.
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7:00pm
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Penguins-Rangers: Game Four
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1.1
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1,232
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4/28
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Mon.
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7:00pm
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Canadiens-Flyers: Game Three
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0.9
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895
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4/24
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Thurs.
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7:30pm
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Avalanche-Red Wings: Game One |
0.8
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842
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4/25
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Fri.
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7:00pm
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Rangers-Penguins: Game One |
0.8
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827
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4/26
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Sat.
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7:00pm
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Flyers-Canadiens: Game Two |
0.7
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811
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CANADA RATINGS: French-language network RDS' telecast of Flyers-Canadiens Game Five last Saturday "set a network audience record" of 2.164 million viewers, marking the second time during the postseason the net drew more than 2 million viewers. RDS' average for the Flyers-Canadiens series was 1.836 million viewers. Meanwhile, TSN averaged 561,000 viewers over 10 games during the second round, even with the net's average audience in '07. The most-watched telecast was the four-overtime Sharks-Stars Game Six on Sunday, which drew 801,000 viewers (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/6). The CBC's second-round playoff games averaged 1.370 million viewers, down 11% from last year's 1.537 million, "mainly because only one Canadian team, the [Canadiens], participated." Both the Senators and Canucks were still playing in the same round in '07. The Flyers-Canadiens series averaged 1.764 million viewers per game on the CBC, while Penguins-Rangers averaged 978,000 (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/8).
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