LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 04: Goaltender Jonathan Quick #32 of the Los Angeles Kings defends his net as Travis Zajac #19 of the New Jersey Devils looks to put a shot on net in Game Three of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final at Staples Center on June 4, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. The Kings defeated the Devils 4-0. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Well, there's good news and there's bad news.
The good news is that Game 2 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals avoided the typical ratings drop sporting events take when they go from weeknights to a Saturday game. The bad news is that those ratings from the weeknight Game 1 were pretty terrible to begin with.
Game 2 -- another overtime win for the Kings -- drew 2.9 million viewers on NBC Saturday night, equaling the total from NBC's coverage of Game 1. That was down 17% from Game 2 of last year's Bruins-Canucks Stanley Cup Finals, which drew 3.5 million viewers, and was the least-watched game of the series on broadcast. It was the least watched Stanley Cup Finals game since the Ducks-Senators series in 2007.
NBC is currently averaging 2.9 million viewers through two Stanley Cup Finals games, their lowest average since the 2007. For now, it doesn't appear NBC will air another hockey game this season (unless the Kings' Twitter feed wills Game 4 onto it's airwaves by sheer magic) and their two Stanley Cup Finals broadcast will both end up with lower numbers than Capitals-Bruins Game 6, which was way back in the first round and drew 3.5 million viewers on a Sunday afternoon.
The only chance hockey has at returning to NBC nationally in this series is if the Devils force a Game 5, which would air Saturday night on the Peacock.
There are 0 Comments. Add Yours.
Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.
C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read
R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next
Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read
Comment Settings
Live comment alert: Hide it!
Comments for this post are closed.