NBC drew a 1.3 overnight for its lone NHL Stanley Cup Playoff game of the weekend -- Capitals-Rangers Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 2 on Saturday afternoon. That figure is down slightly from a 1.4 overnight for the comparable Bruins-Canadiens Game 2 last year. Both telecasts led into coverage of the Kentucky Derby. However, Capitals-Rangers was up slightly from a 1.2 for the same matchup in '13, which also led into the Derby (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
PAST THEIR BEDTIME: In Chicago, Rick Morrissey notes Blackhawks fans are "getting stuck" with a lot of 8:30pm CT start times for the team's playoff games. However, the action actually begins at 8:45pm "because of all the pregame buildup on TV." The NHL is "not as popular as the other three major professional leagues," and the league is "trying to attract more fans, especially young ones, to an extremely exciting sport." Morrissey: "How does it respond to that challenge? It practically begs young Hawks fans to stay away during the most thrilling time of the season." NBC, of course, "just wants the biggest audience and doesn’t care if that audience is devoid of children in the nation’s third-biggest TV market," but the NHL "should." There is "nothing wrong with having all the night games start at 7, even if it means hockey fans have to make a choice about which game to watch" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 5/2).
