Overview
- Opening weekend national telecasts averaged 1.53 million viewers across ESPN and TNT Sports, up 81% from last year and the highest on record for the NHL’s first playoff weekend.
- The regular season averaged 546,000 viewers across ESPN/ABC and TNT/truTV, the best NHL national TV mark in 14 years under Nielsen’s new Big Data plus panel system, and reporters say the gains exceed what the measurement change alone would add.
- ESPN and ABC combined averaged about 760,000 viewers, with ESPN up 48% to 602,000 and ABC up 33% to 1.1 million, while TNT/truTV rose about 21% to roughly 381,000–385,000 and climbed to about 453,000 after Team USA’s Olympic gold.
- Scheduling and marquee events helped concentrate viewers, as ESPN’s expanded seven-game Sunday slate averaged 937,000 viewers, up 153% year over year, and the Feb. 1 Lightning–Bruins Stadium Series drew about 2.07 million on ESPN for a regular-season cable record.
- Advertisers moved quickly into the playoffs, with Warner Bros. Discovery ad-sales chief Jon Diament saying commercial inventory is “pretty much sold out,” signaling strong demand from brands seeking the NHL’s engaged audience.