NHL viewership down for final regular season with NBC Sports

NHL games averaged a total audience delivery (TV+digital) of 391,000 viewers across NBC and NBCSN during what will be NBC Sports’ final season as a league partner after 16 years. That figure is the lowest regular-season figure for NBC Sports under the current media deal, which began prior to the '11-12 season. This season (103 games) is just below the 398,000 averaged during the '19-20 campaign (98 games), which finished in the fall due to the pandemic. Two seasons ago, the league averaged 424,000.

HUMP DAY: NBCSN’s “Wednesday Night Hockey” window averaged 508,000 viewers across 15 games, up 15% from 441,000 over 21 games last season and the best delivery for the window in four years (510,000 in 2016-2017). The Bruins-Flyers outdoor game from Lake Tahoe averaged 1.08 million viewers, marking NBCSN’s best NHL regular-season audience on record. It also was the most-viewed NHL regular-season game on cable in 19 years, dating back to Sharks-Red Wings in '02, which averaged 1.28 million on ESPN. NBC’s top game was the Capitals-Penguins season opener with1.73 million on Jan. 17, which is the most-watched non-outdoor NHL regular-season game in three years.

PUCK TRACKING: NBC Sports Digital had an average audience minute of 10,800 viewers for games, marking the company’s most-streamed NHL regular season. The Lake Tahoe game was the most-streamed regular-season game on record (49,700 viewers).