Most fans seemed to enjoy the earlier 5:30pm start time for Flyers-PenguinsGETTY IMAGES
NBCSN's season-opening Penguins-Flyers game "averaged a total audience delivery of 972,000 viewers, making it the network's most-watched regular-season game on record," according to Jordan Hall of NBC SPORTS PHILADELPHIA. Penguins-Flyers kicked off a tripleheader on the net that "averaged a total audience delivery of 774,000 viewers." That marks the net's "most-watched multi-game opening night on record." Most fans "seemed to thoroughly enjoy" the 5:30pm ET start time. Without having to "worry about fans making their way to the arena during rush hour after work," a 5:30 start time on a Wednesday "made fine sense" (NBCSPORTSPHILADELPHIA.com, 1/14).
TIME CONSTRAINTS: In St. Louis, Dan Caesar notes a number of Blues fans "missed the start of the telecast" of the team's game against the Avalanche on Wednesday, the last game of NBCSN's tripleheader. Some programming providers "did not switch the St. Louis audience to the local crew's contest until after" Blackhawks-Lightning was complete. Even some of the viewers who received the Blues for the start were "agitated" because the contest "did not begin" until 9:45pm CT, 15 minutes later than listed by the league. The switch for those fans "happened about a minute -- if that -- before the opening faceoff." But a lot of St. Louis natives "evidently watched despite the shabby treatment." The telecast of the game drew a 4.7 rating, "well above the 3.9 rating that Fox Sports Midwest averaged last season for its regular-season telecasts of Blues contests that began at 9 p.m. or later." Blues-Avalanche "averaged 403,000 viewers nationally for NBCSN," though the net's production was "blacked out in Denver in favor of local coverage" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/15).
SPORTSNET SETTING RECORDS: Sportsnet on Wednesday saw its most-watched NHL regular-season doubleheader ever. The opening Canadiens-Maple Leafs game drew an average audience of 2.1 million viewers, marking the most-watched regular-season game aired exclusively on the net. The Canucks-Oilers nightcap drew an average audience of 1.1 million people (Sportsnet).
