NBC last night drew a 4.8 overnight rating for the Penguins' 2-0 win over the Predators in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, which gave the team its second-straight Cup win and fifth overall. The 4.8 overnight is up 28% from a 3.7 rating for the Penguins' Game 6 clincher over the Sharks, and up from a 4.1 for the team's Game 6 win over the Red Wings in '09. The 3.7 overnight last year was NBC's lowest rating for a Game 6 since Hurricanes-Oilers in '06 drew a 2.2 on a Saturday night. The 4.8 ranks as NBC's fourth-best Game 6 overnight on record, behind only Blackhawks games from '15 (5.6), '13 (5.6) and '10 (5.8). Pittsburgh led all markets with a 40.0 local rating, up from a 35.1 for last year's clincher. The 40.0 is NBC's second-best local figure on record for a Penguins game, behind only a 42.2 for the Game 7 clincher in '09. Nashville drew a 28.3 local rating for last night's game, marking a record for a Predators game in the market (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
DRUBBING HURTS GAME 5: NBC finished with 4.38 million viewers for Penguins-Predators on Thursday, marking the least-viewed Cup Final Game 5 since Kings-Devils drew 3.33 million viewers on a Saturday night in '12. Thursday's matchup, which saw the Penguins win 6-0, was down 13% from 5.01 million viewers last year for Penguins-Sharks Game 5, which also aired on a Thursday. Game 5 this year peaked at 5.2 million viewers from 8:45-9:00pm ET. NBC said that the game drew 11.1 million live minutes, 174,000 unique viewers and an average minute audience of 62,000 (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
MIKE DROP: YAHOO SPORTS' Greg Wyshynski noted Predators fan Richard Swor made a large sign for last night's game that featured NBC analyst Mike Milbury with a "clown nose and the words: FIRE MILBURY HE HAS IT COMING." The fan yesterday "brought the sign outside to where NBC was doing live pregame coverage near the arena" and "proudly held it aloft." That is, until NBC Sports employees "approached him." An NBC rep "offered him a bribe." The fan, explaining the situation, said, "He held up a hat, and he said 'I'll give you a hat if you want one.' And I said OK. ... Then he said, 'but I have to take the sign, and you can get it after the game.' I said, 'No, I'm good. Actually, I'm gonna take it into the arena.'" The fan said that he "attempted to get his sign on NHL Network's coverage, and was threatened with confiscation of his anti-Milbury sign" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/11).
TALK TO ME: In Buffalo, Mike Harrington noted a group of reporters covering the series "staged a 'stand-in'" at Predators D P.K. Subban's locker "following the morning skate after a Predators PR official appeared to corral Subban in the hallway as he left the ice and instructed" him "not to speak to the media." Not speaking after taking the skate is a "violation of NHL access rules." Reporters "waited for Subban for about 20 minutes before being instructed to leave when the Preds went into their daily meeting." The Professional Hockey Writers Association is "expected to file a formal complaint to the league on the matter and the Predators could be subject to fines for failing to adhere to the league's media policy" (BUFFALONEWS.com, 6/11). In Toronto, Bruce Arthur reported Subban "walked into the crowded dressing room and started toward the ring of media at his locker, and was heard to ask team PR director Kevin Wilson, 'Do you want me to talk today?'" Arthur: "NHL officials tried to lobby for Subban to talk, to no avail. The Predators organization, before the biggest game in franchise history, muzzled one of its best players" (THESTAR.com, 6/11).
