or


[05/18/21 - 07:53 AM]
NBC Sports' Preakness Stakes Is Most-Watched Since 2018 & Leads Into NBC Sports' Most-Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoff First-Round Opener Ever
The Capitals' thrilling 3-2 overtime victory registered a TAD of 2.31 million viewers, ranking as the most-watched Game 1 on record in the first round of the NHL Playoffs since 1995.
[via press release from NBC Sports]

NBC SPORTS' PREAKNESS STAKES IS MOST-WATCHED SINCE 2018 & LEADS INTO NBC SPORTS' MOST-WATCHED NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF FIRST-ROUND OPENER EVER

NBC's Preakness Stakes Coverage Peaked at 8.6 Million Viewers as Rombauer Crossed Finish Line

Bruins-Capitals Overtime Thriller on NBC Registers Total Audience Delivery of 2.31 Million Viewers, Network's Most-Watched First Round Game 1 on Record; Playoffs Continue with Three Games Tonight

The Belmont Stakes is Sat., June 5 at 5 p.m. ET on NBC

STAMFORD, Conn. - May 18, 2021 - NBC Sports' Saturday late afternoon and evening coverage of the 146th Preakness Stakes on NBC followed by the opening game of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs delivered a pair of viewership milestones.

The 146th Preakness Stakes averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 7.0 million viewers on Saturday - marking the most-watched broadcast of the event since Triple Crown-winner Justify's victory in 2018, according to official national data provided by Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics. The 2021 Preakness Stakes TAD nearly tripled last year's viewership (2.4 million viewers on Oct. 3, 2020) and is up 29% from the last Preakness Stakes held in May (5.4 million on May 18, 2019).

The Preakness Stakes, which peaked at 8.6 million NBC-TV viewers from 6:45-7 p.m. ET as Rombauer ran to victory, led into the Boston Bruins-Washington Capitals opening game of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Capitals' thrilling 3-2 overtime victory registered a TAD of 2.31 million viewers, ranking as the most-watched Game 1 on record in the first round of the NHL Playoffs since 1995 (regionalized game window on FOX). The game broadcast peaked with 3.14 million TV-only viewers.

Caps-Bruins also ranks as the most-watched game at any point in a First-Round series since Game 6 of the Penguins-Flyers in 2018 (2.4 million on April 22, 2018). NHL Stanley Cup Playoff coverage continues tonight on the networks of NBCUniversal.

NBC presents The 153rd Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 5 at 5 p.m. ET, with coverage beginning at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

TOP METERED MARKETS FOR 2021 PREAKNESS STAKES (Race Portion)
1. Baltimore 13.8/37
2. Ft. Myers 9.8/20
3. Louisville 9.3/20
4. West Palm Beach 8.9/21
5. Buffalo 8.7/20
6. Knoxville 7.6/14
7. Providence 7.4/17
T8. Indianapolis 7.0/18
T8. Washington, DC 7.0/20
T10. Austin 6.8/20
T10. Pittsburgh 6.8/17

TOP METERED MARKETS FOR BRUINS-CAPITALS GAME 1
1. Boston 9.2/21
2. Providence 8.9/18
3. Ft. Myers 4.2/8
4. Pittsburgh 3.9/8
5. Baltimore 3.7/9
6. Washington, DC 3.4/9
7. Buffalo 3.1/6
8. Las Vegas 2.8/7
9. Tampa 2.7/6
10. West Palm Beach 2.5/5

--NBC SPORTS--





  [may 2021]  
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
[06/03/26 - 07:00 AM]
Fans Power UFL on ESPN to Significant Viewership Growth Across 10-Week Regular Season
ABC alone accounted for eight of the top 10 most-watched games.
[06/03/26 - 06:00 AM]
TNT Sports Caps Its Most Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with Its Most Watched Conference Final Ever
The record-setting series helped propel TNT Sports' overall coverage of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to an average of 1.4 million viewers across TNT, TBS, truTV and HBO Max, up 50% from 2025 through the Conference Final.
[06/02/26 - 04:06 PM]
NBC and Peacock Deliver Most-Watched Conference Finals Game Since 2016 with 15.9 Million Viewers for Spurs-Thunder Game 7 on Saturday Night
Across 28 playoff games, NBC Sports' presentation of the 2026 NBA Playoffs averaged 7.2 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, up 72% versus comparable coverage last season.

[06/02/26 - 02:36 PM]
ESPN's WCWS Viewership Success Continues
Texas Tech-UCLA averaged 2.0 million viewers, with a peak of 2.6 million.
[06/02/26 - 02:13 PM]
FOX IndyCar Continues Ratings Growth with Strong Detroit Performance
Through eight races, IndyCar on FOX is averaging 2,241,000 viewers, up +12% from 2025 (2,007,000).
[06/02/26 - 02:00 PM]
FOX MLB's "Baseball Night in America" Delivers Most-Watched Baseball Telecast of the Week
2,322,000 viewers tuned-in to FOX for a two-game slate highlighted by the Cubs' 6-1 victory over the Cardinals in most of the country.
[06/02/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of May 25 - "The Boroughs" Makes Itself at Home at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Plus: "Nemesis" stole away with the No. 2 spot on the list, commanding 5.9 million views.
[06/01/26 - 11:04 AM]
ESPN Scored Most-Watched NCAA Women's College World Series Opening Thursday on Record
Arkansas-Nebraska averaged 1.4 million viewers, with a peak of 1.6 million.
[06/01/26 - 08:27 AM]
ESPN Scores Most-Viewed Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final Since 2015, The Latest Viewership Successes Headed Into the Stanley Cup Final
Across four games on ESPN, the series averaged 2.2 million viewers and was up 44% vs. the Western Conference Final last year (Edmonton vs. Dallas) which went five games on ESPN.

[05/29/26 - 03:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Newsmagazine, Leading "Dateline" in Total Viewers for the 5th Consecutive Broadcast Season
"20/20" improved on the previous season in Total Viewers (+5%/+170,000 - 3.672 million vs. 3.502 million).
[05/29/26 - 03:01 PM]
ABC News Is #1 in Total Viewers Sunday Morning and in Late-Night
"Nightline" posted double-digit gains week to week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.
[05/28/26 - 03:23 PM]
2026 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Presented by Dunkin' Finishes Strong with Average Audience of 7.4 Million Viewers Across ESPN and ABC
Additionally, Game 4 on ESPN averaged 7.2 million viewers, marking the most-viewed Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 across any network since 2018.
[05/28/26 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Outpaces Competitors with Eight of the Top 25 Series Across All Streaming and Broadcast Originals in Nielsen's All-Series Ranker
CBS has the most top 25 series of any streaming or broadcast competitor and twice as many as its closest broadcast competitor, including six series with 10+ million viewers.
[05/28/26 - 10:31 AM]
FOX Delivers Most-Watched UFL Game Since League Started in 2024
1,593,000 viewers watched as Louisville defeated Dallas 37-23 on Sunday.
[05/28/26 - 10:26 AM]
FOX Scores with 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500
6,635,000 viewers watched Felix Rosenqvist edge David Malukas by 0.0233 seconds with a last-lap pass to win the Indy 500 Sunday on FOX.