Total audience delivery for Caps-Golden Knights Game 1 was up 7% from Penguins-Predators last yearGETTY IMAGES
Monday night’s Capitals-Golden Knights Game 1, which featured the most lead changes ever in a Stanley Cup Final game, drew a total audience delivery of 5.28 million viewers across NBC Sports' linear and digital properties, marking the company’s third-best Game 1 since it began airing the NHL in ’06. The audience ranks behind only Blackhawks-Bruins in ’13 (6.32 million) and Blackhawks-Lightning in ’15 (5.59 million). Caps-Golden Knights also keeps the Stanley Cup Playoffs on pace for its best mark in 21 years. Game 1 is up 7% from 4.93 million viewers for Penguins-Predators last year. Game 1 this year had a TV-only viewership of just under 5.2 million viewers, while its average minute audience on NBC streaming platforms was 83,700 viewers. The average minute audience for the entire playoffs to date is 38,100 viewers, which is up 38% from last season (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
TOP OF THE HILL: In DC, Scott Allen noted Game 1 drew a 16.02 local rating, marking the "highest-rated Capitals game" yet for an NBC network, topping the 12.6 for Caps-Lightning Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 last Wednesday. Game 1 also is "believed to be the highest in the DC market for any Capitals game" on record. In '98, the only previous time the Caps appeared in the Cup Final, Game 1 on Fox drew a 13.7 local rating in DC. Excluding the Redskins, who "regularly post local TV ratings of 20.0 and higher, the highest local rating for a game involving a DC team this century is believed to be" Cardinals-Nationals NLDS Game 5 in '12, which drew a 16.7 rating locally (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 5/29). In Boston, Mark Shanahan wrote the city is "supposed to be the Hub of Hockey," but Boston "didn't even crack the top 10" in local ratings for Game 1 (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 5/29).
BEST SHOW IN TOWN: In Pittsburgh, Jonathan Bombulie noted Penguins TV announcer Steve Mears is in Las Vegas "calling games for the NHL's international broadcasts" of the Cup Final. It is Mears' "third consecutive season in the role," and he has "never seen anything like the show Vegas is putting on, from its pregame theatrics on down." Mears said, “I love the fact that it's uniquely Vegas-themed. It's all about Vegas. From Wayne Newton being there to the Killers, who are from Vegas, and Bryce Harper, who was on the scoreboard, he's from Vegas. You've got Blue Man Group. You've got kind of a nightclub atmosphere going on. It's unlike anything we've ever seen before” (TRIBLIVE.com, 5/29).
