or


[03/01/10 - 11:56 AM]
Most Watched Hockey Game in 30 Years
NBC spins the numbers for Sunday, February 28.

[via press release from NBC]

MOST WATCHED HOCKEY GAME IN 30 YEARS

27.6 Million Watched Canada's 3-2 OT Victory Over the USA in the Gold Medal Hockey Game on Sunday Afternoon, Best Since 1980 Lake Placid Games

The 15.2/30 Household Rating is Also Best Since 1980 Lake Placid Gold Medal Game

Vancouver - March 1, 2010 - Sunday afternoon's USA vs. Canada gold medal hockey game, that NBC's Bob Costas called, "One of the greatest sports events I have ever seen," was the most-watched hockey game in 30 years. Canada's epic 3-2 overtime victory (3:20-6:13 p.m. ET) drew an average viewership of 27.6 million, the most watched hockey broadcast of any kind since the USA vs. Finland 1980 gold medal game in Lake Placid on Feb. 24, 1980 (32.8 million). For historical comparison, the "Miracle on Ice" USA-Russia semifinal game that aired on tape delay on Feb 22, 1980 from the Lake Placid Games drew 34.2 million average viewers.

"We've been fortunate to have a front-row seat to observe a nation of fans that appreciates winter sports, is proud of their winter sport heritage and celebrates success - no matter which country wins - so it was only fitting yesterday when Sidney Crosby scored the goal to give Canadians the gold that meant so much to this country," said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. "'O Canada' will never be the same."

TOPS 2002 SALT LAKE GOLD MEDAL GAME BY 10.5 MILLION VIEWERS: The 27.6 million viewers for Sunday's gold medal game was 10.5 million more (up 61 percent) from the Canada-USA gold medal game from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics (17.1 million viewers).

The 15.2/30 rating for yesterday's game was four-and-a-half rating points higher than the 10.7/24 for the 2002 gold medal game and was the highest-rated hockey game of any kind since the USA vs. Finland 1980 gold medal game (23.2/61). The "Miracle on Ice" semifinal game between the USA and Russia had a household rating of a 23.9/37.

The audience peaked at 34.8 million viewers (18.6/34 hh rating) from 5:30-6 p.m. ET, when the USA's Zach Parise (New Jersey Devils) sent the game to overtime with the tying goal with just 24.4 seconds left in regulation. Canada's Sydney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) gave Canada the gold medal, their 14th of the Winter Games (most of any country) when he got the puck past the USA's Ryan Miller (Buffalo Sabres) just over seven minutes into overtime.

Below is a list of the highest-rated and most watched hockey broadcasts of all time broken down by: Household Rating/Share, Average audience (people 2+) and Total Audience:

GAME Avg. Viewers Total Viewers RTG/SH
USA/Russia, 1980 (Miracle on Ice) 34.2 million 51.9 million 23.9/37
USA/Finland, 1980 (gold medal) 32.8 million 55.6 million 23.2/61
USA/Canada, 2010 (gold medal) 27.6 million n/a 15.2/30
USA/Canada, 2002 (gold medal) 17.1 million 38 million 10.7/24
Unified/USA, 1992 (semifinal) 11.7 million 25 million 9.3/32

AUDIENCE FOR GOLD MEDAL GAME SURPASSES TOP EVENTS:

The 27.6 million average viewers for the USA-Canada Gold Medal hockey game surpassed the following during the 2009-2010 seasons:

2010 Grammy Awards 25.9 million
2010 Rose Bowl 24.0 million
2009 World Series 4 22.8 million (Gm. 4 was most watched)
2009 NCAA Basketball Championship 17.6 million
2009 NBA Finals - Game 4 16.0 million (Gm. 4 was most watched)
2010 Daytona 500 16.0 million
2009 Masters Golf - Sunday 14.3 million

NBC's BOB COSTAS ON GOLD MEDAL GAME: "That's one of the greatest sports events I have ever seen."

"A script so classic that if it were a movie, they would send it back because it was unrealistic."

"With all due respect, this can never be repeated. On home soil, for Canada, in the sport that matters most, against the Americans - this can never be repeated. This can never be approached, let alone equaled."

NBC's AL MICHAELS THOUGHTS ON THE GAME: "You could not have written a better script for this country. The goal that will resonate throughout history in Canada."

FROM THE OPENING TEASE OF NBC'S COVERAGE, 17 DAYS AGO: "The host nation is on a mission. No one bears the weight of expectations like the 22-year-old captain of the Stanley Cup champions. O Canada's face of the Games, charged with leading his nation's pursuit of their Holy Grail - the Olympic hockey title."

UNIVERSAL SPORTS TO REPLAY GOLD MEDAL MATCH: For anybody who missed this game or want to watch it again, Universal Sports, the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related sports programming which is available in 57 million homes, will replay the USA-Canada Olympic gold medal hockey game this Tuesday and Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET with repeats each night at 11 p.m. ET.

OLYMPIC STARS RETURN IN NHL "GAME OF THE WEEK" THIS SUNDAY: This Sunday, March 7, the NHL returns to NBC as the Detroit Red Wings led by silver medalist Brian Rafalski of Team USA travels to Chicago to take on a Chicago Blackhawks team filled with members of both Team USA and the gold medal-winning Team Canada. Among those suiting up for the Blackhawks are Team USA's Patrick Kane and Team Canada's Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Bren Seabrook. The NHL "Game of the Week" from the United Center will air this Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Top 25 Metered Markets for USA-Canada Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Game:
1. Buffalo, 32.6/51
2. Pittsburgh, 31.9/50
3. Detroit, 26.9/47
4. Minneapolis, 26.4/53
5. Milwaukee, 24.5/43
6. Boston, 24.1/46
7. Chicago, 23.5/41
8. Columbus, 22.3/37
9. Denver, 22.2/42
10. Philadelphia, 20.9/35
11. West Palm Beach, 20.3/33
12. Kansas City, 19.5/35
13. St. Louis, 19.4/39
14. Seattle, 19.3/45
15. Cincinnati, 19.2/31
16. New York, 19.0/36
17. Hartford, 18.5/30
18. Providence, 18.4/34
T19. Salt Lake City, 18.3/38
T19. Cleveland, 18.3/32
T21. Washington, D.C., 18.1/33
T21. Baltimore, 18.1/32
23. Ft. Myers, 18.0/34
T24. Austin, 17.1/34
T24. Indianapolis, 17.1/29





  [march 2010]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
 


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[03/15/24 - 09:30 AM]
ABC's "Will Trent" Grows to New Series High in Total Viewers
The series catapulted by +219% among Adults 18-49 (1.15 rating vs. 0.36 rating) after seven days of multiplatform viewing and increased by +4.19 million Total Viewers (9.02 million vs. 4.83 million) over its initial Live+Same Day average.

[03/14/24 - 12:02 PM]
"Tamron Hall" Grows Week to Week by Double Digits in Women 25-54 and 18-49
"Tamron Hall" scored its best performance since May in Women 18-49 and hit an 8-week high in Women 25-54.

[03/14/24 - 11:30 AM]
Season Premiere of ABC's "The Bachelor" Marks Series' Strongest Multiplatform Telecast in Nearly 3 Years
The season premiere shot up more than 5 times over its initial Live+Same Day rating among Adults 18-49, skyrocketing by +432% after 35 days of multiplatform viewing to score its biggest delayed-viewing increase ever.

[03/12/24 - 03:36 PM]
ESPN Platforms Wrap Up Successful Women's College Basketball Regular Season Slate
The 2023-24 regular season averaged 476,000 viewers across games on ESPN and ABC.

[03/12/24 - 09:56 AM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of Mar. 4: "Damsel" and "The Gentlemen" Take the Top Spots
"Avatar: The Last Airbender," which was recently renewed for two more seasons, held strong in second place with 9.1M views as the social fandom continues to heat up.

[03/11/24 - 04:30 PM]
Earlier Start Time Propels "The Oscars" on ABC to Hit 4-Year High in Viewers
Starting one hour earlier than usual, the 96th Oscars on ABC drew an average audience of 19.5 million Total Viewers and scored a 3.81 rating among Adults 18-49 based on Fast National Live+Same Day program data.

[03/11/24 - 11:52 AM]
"Rock the Block" Season Premiere Delivers Triple-Digit Ratings Gains for HGTV on Monday, March 4
The episode, which attracted 3.9 million total viewers, posted an impressive 104 percent lift from the prior six-week average and a 66 percent increase over year-ago levels.

[03/08/24 - 01:32 PM]
ABC News' Special Coverage of the 2024 State of the Union Address and Super Tuesday Wins in Total Viewers Among All Broadcast Television
ABC News' coverage of the State of the Union address was up +14% from the prior year in Total Viewers.

[03/07/24 - 08:00 AM]
"BMF" Season Three Premiere Delivers 5.1 Million Multiplatform Viewers for Starz
The third season, which premiered on Friday, March 1, achieved a series high growing season over season by 25%.

[03/06/24 - 02:30 PM]
"Tamron Hall" Hits 4-Week High in Households and Total Viewers
During the week of February 19, "Tamron Hall" improved week to week in Households (+6% - 0.68 vs. 0.64), Total Viewers (+9% - 1.008 million vs. 928,000) and Women 25-54 (+1% - 141,000 vs. 139,000).

[03/06/24 - 09:00 AM]
FX's "Shogun" Premiere Breaks Records with 9 Million Views Globally on Hulu and Disney+
Domestically, "Shogun" is the No. 1 FX premiere on Hulu, just ahead of "The Bear" Season 2, aided by viewership from Hulu on Disney+.

[03/05/24 - 04:30 PM]
ABC's "Abbott Elementary" Catapults More Than 5 Times Over Live+Same Day Among Adults 18-49
"Abbott Elementary" also picked up an additional +3.13 million Total Viewers after three days of cross-platform viewing (5.46 million vs. 2.33 million).

[03/05/24 - 03:31 PM]
ABC's "The Bachelor" Hits Its Strongest Multiplatform Telecast in Nearly 2 Years
"The Bachelor" tripled its initial Live+Same Day rating among Adults 18-49, skyrocketing by +197% after just three days of multiplatform viewing (0.62 rating to 1.84 rating).

[03/05/24 - 09:14 AM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of Feb. 26: "Avatar: The Last Airbender" Holds Onto #1; "Code 8: Part II" Debuts on Top
Cupid kept his hold on the English TV List, with Season 6 of fan-favorite dating experiment "Love Is Blind" claiming #2 (5.1M views) and "One Day," the limited series adapted from David Nicholls' beloved romance novel, taking #3 (4.8M views).

[03/05/24 - 09:09 AM]
CBS Wins Monday Night For Fourth Consecutive Week with #1 Show of the Night, "NCIS"
"NCIS" averaged 6.81 million viewers, retaining nearly 100% of its week ago average.