NBC/NBCSN See Lowest NHL Season Under Current Media Rights Deal

NHL regular-season viewership across NBC and NBCSN was its lowest level yet under the current 10-year media-rights deal, which began prior to the ’11-12 campaign. The networks combined to average a total-audience delivery (TAD) of 417,000 viewers (TV+streaming), which is down 12% from ’16-17. The high mark during the current deal was the lockout-shortened season of ’12-13, which averaged 590,000 viewers. For NBC alone, the net averaged a TAD of 1.29 million viewers, up 4% from 1.24 million in ’16-17, which was the lowest on record for an NHL season (figures dating back to ’93-94). That gain came despite another record-low NHL Winter Classic and NBC airing three fewer games this season. Meanwhile, NBCSN averaged a TAD of 302,000 viewers, which is the NHL’s lowest figure on cable TV since the ’09-10 season (297,000 viewers). NBCSN was down 12% from 343,000 viewers in ’16-17. NBC platforms also went dark with regard to NHL games for much of the Pyeongchang Games. Looking at total reach for combined NBC/NBCSN games, NHL matchups reached a total audience of 39.7 million viewers across 105 games, up from 39.6 million last season and good enough for NBC Sports’ second-best figure yet, behind only the ‘13-14 season (42.8 million over 101 games). Looking at streaming alone, NHL Digital had an average minute audience of 8,000 viewers for all games, marking a record for the platform. Live streaming of the 105 regular-season games averaged a record 24,000 unique devices and a record 1.3 million live minutes per game, up 14% for both metrics compared to last season.

Download the NHL Viewership Trend

Download the NHL Viewership Trend On NBC

Download the NHL Viewership Trend On NBCSN