NBC saw ratings increases for its three Stanley Cup Playoffs windows this weekend, led by the Penguins' 5-1 rout of the Flyers yesterday afternoon. Pens-Flyers Game 3 earned a 1.6 overnight rating, up 33% from a 1.2 rating for Game 3 of the Blues-Wild series last year, which fell on Easter Sunday. On Saturday, NBC drew a 1.3 overnight for Maple Leafs-Bruins Game 2 (up from a 1.2 last year) and a 1.3 for its regional playoff window from 3:00-6:15pm ET, up from a 1.2 overnight in the same window in '17 ( Josh Carpenter, Assistant Editor ).
CAN'T GET ENOUGH : Nashville-based WTVF-CBS Program & Research Dir Mark Binda said that Game 2 of Predators-Avalanche on Saturday "earned a whopping 10.3 rating." In Nashville, Mike Organ writes that "means 106,162 [local] households watched the Predators take a 2-0 lead in the series." The rating for the first game of the series was a 7.5, and Saturday's was the "highest since the Predators set a franchise record with a 27.4 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final last season" against the Penguins ( Nashville TENNESSEAN, 4/16 ).
WHAT ABOUT BOB? The NATIONAL POST's Michael Traikos noted for the "first time in almost five decades," longtime "HNIC" play-by-play announcer Bob Cole "won’t be calling any playoff games." It is a "decision that caught Cole by surprise," and one that he "still doesn’t quite understand." Cole: "The decision sure wasn’t mutual. It was right out of the blue. Rogers decided to go with other (broadcast) teams and I have to live with that. But it was their decision -- not mine.”
CALLING CARD
