Senators-Penguins Game 7 Double-OT Thriller on NBCSN Averages More Than 3 Million Viewers

Last night's Eastern Conference Final Game 7 double-overtime thriller on NBCSN, in which the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, set major viewership and digital records, and continued the trend of strong results for the entire 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, according to Fast National Data provided by The Nielsen Company and Adobe Analytics.

SENATORS-PENGUINS GAME 7

Last night's game (7:59 p.m. - 12 a.m. ET), featuring only one U.S. home market, averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 3.016 million viewers, making it the most-watched NHL game ever on NBCSN to feature a Canadian team, surpassing Game 3 of the Vancouver Canucks-Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Final in 2011 (2.757 million); up 16% compared to last year's Eastern Conference Final Game 7 between Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh (2.593 million); and the third-most watched conference final game ever on NBCSN, behind only Kings-Blackhawks Game 7 (6/1/14; 4.179 million) and Lightning-Rangers Game 7 (5/29/15; 3.329 million). TAD measures consumption across multiple platforms, combining the Average Minute Audience (AMA) for television and digital.

TV-only viewership peaked with nearly 4.2 million viewers in the 11:15-11:30 p.m. ET quarter-hour. The full game posted a 1.69 HH rating and averaged 2.921 million TV-only viewers.

Digitally, Senators-Penguins Game 7 is now the most streamed game in NHL history, including all Stanley Cup Final games, with 24.7 million live minutes and an AMA of 94,800 viewers. It also delivered 271,000 unique devices, which is the second-best ever.

Locally, the game posted a 29.7 rating in Pittsburgh to rank as the highest-rated Penguins game ever on NBCSN in the Pittsburgh market. The game also posted a 47 share, meaning that nearly half the television sets that were on in the market during the game were tuned into Senators-Penguins.

2017 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Across all 78 games on NBC/NBCSN/CNBC/USA to date, the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs have averaged a TAD of 1.129 million viewers, up 8% from last year through the same point in the playoffs (1.049 million; 83 games). The playoffs are averaging a 0.66 HH rating and averaging 1.102 million TV-only viewers.

Of note, this year's Playoffs included five Canadian teams vs. zero in 2016. Two Canadian teams advanced to the second round, with Ottawa advancing to a conference final. Of the 78 postseason games televised by NBC Sports Group, 47 have featured a Canadian team, as compared to zero last year. Yet, viewership is up 8%.

The Eastern and Western Conference Finals, which included three U.S. teams vs. four last year, averaged a TAD of 1.808 million viewers, up four percent vs. last year's Conference Finals (1.742 million). This year's Conference Finals delivered a 1.04 HH rating and averaged 1.762 million TV-only viewers.

Digitally, the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs have totaled an all-time record 1.7 million unique devices and 429.5 million minutes, up 21% and 28%, respectively, vs. last year to date (1.4 million uniques; 336.2 million minutes).

2017 STANLEY CUP FINAL

The 2017 Stanley Cup Final begins Monday, May 29, at 8 p.m. ET, on NBC, when Sidney Crosby and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins host P.K. Subban and the NASHVILLE Predators, who are making their first-ever Stanley Cup Final appearance.

Following is the full telecast schedule for the 2017 Stanley Cup Final with networks and start times. Pre-game coverage will begin each night with NHL LIVE at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Date	Coverage	Network	Time (ET)
Mon., May 29	Game 1 - NASHVILLE at Pittsburgh	NBC	8 p.m.
Wed., May 31	Game 2 - NASHVILLE at Pittsburgh	NBCSN	8 p.m.
Sat., June 3	Game 3 - Pittsburgh at Nashville	NBCSN	8 p.m.
Mon., June 5	Game 4 - Pittsburgh at Nashville	NBC	8 p.m.
Thur., June 8	Game 5 - NASHVILLE at Pittsburgh*	NBC	8 p.m.
Sun., June 11	Game 6 - Pittsburgh at Nashville*	NBC	8 p.m.
Wed., June 14	Game 7 - NASHVILLE at Pittsburgh *	NBC	8 p.m.

*if necessary

Image courtesy of NBC.

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