Caps-Golden Knights through four games is averaging 4.44 million viewers, up 5% from the same point in '17GETTY IMAGES
Despite an audience decline for Game 4's blowout, NBC Sports is still seeing its best Stanley Cup Final viewership in three years with Capitals-Golden Knights. For four games across NBC, NBCSN and NBC Digital, the series is averaging 4.44 million viewers, up 5% from the same point of the Penguins-Predators series last year, and up 30% compared to Penguins-Sharks in '16. Game 4 on Monday night drew a total audience delivery of 5.16 million viewers as the series moved back to broadcast TV. That figure is down from 5.66 million TV-only viewers on NBC last year for Penguins-Predators (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
WINNER WINNER: In Las Vegas, Christopher Lawrence notes NBC Sports Exec Producer & President of Production Sam Flood "can't get enough of the ratings" the Golden Knights are generating locally during their postseason run. Flood said, "You think of any comparatives, there are none." Flood added, "The Vegas numbers are in a league of their own. This is a remarkable story, and there's no question it's changing how a nontraditional hockey market can be viewed. Last year, Nashville was a first-time finalist in a nontraditional market, and we saw real potential there." Vegas-based KSNV-NBC GM Larry Strumwasser said, "The only number that will exceed the Golden Knights is the Super Bowl" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 6/6).
OLD GUARD: In Toronto, Kevin McGran notes longtime Sportsnet play-by-play announcer Bob Cole, the "iconic voice of hockey," has been missing from "Hockey Night In Canada" broadcasts during the playoffs. Sportsnet President Scott Moore said, "I would love to see Bob continue with us in some way, shape or form. I've asked him to do some games next year." Cole turns 85 on June 24 and is said to be "quite hurt at being left out of the playoff loop for the first time in his hockey broadcasting career." Meanwhile, 84-year-old Sportsnet analyst Don Cherry is "expected to return to 'Coach's Corner.'" Moore: "Don and I have lunch in July of every year and talk about whether he wants to come back. I would be surprised if he wasn't back next year." Moore said that he also is "in negotiations" with former Maple Leafs and Flames exec Brian Burke about "returning next season in an expanded role" -- possibly on "HNIC" -- after a "successful run as an analyst through two rounds of the playoffs." Burke "will be part of Sportsnet's draft and free-agency broadcasts" (TORONTO STAR, 6/6).
