Stanley Cup Final Viewership Is Best In Three Years The First 4 Games
By: Tori Hartshorn Jun. 05, 2018
Despite last night's Game 4 blowout, in which the Washington Capitals defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 6-2 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., the 2018 Stanley Cup Final is averaging a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 4.443 million viewers through the first four games across NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app, making it the most-watched Final in three years, according to Fast National data by the Nielsen Company and streaming data by Adobe Analytics.
Capitals-Golden Knights is up 5% vs. last year's Nashville-Pittsburgh Stanley Cup Final (4.232 million), and up 30% vs. the first four games of the 2016 SCF between San Jose and Pittsburgh (3.414 million).
The Capitals hold a 3-1 series lead and are one victory away from winning the first Stanley Cup in team history. Game 5 between the Capitals and Golden Knights is set for Thursday night from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Pre-game coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
Through 82 games, the entire 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs are averaging a TAD of 1.374 million viewers across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, Golf Channel, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app, and continue to be the most-watched NHL post-season in 21 years.
Last night's Game 4 - which featured the Capitals leading the Golden Knights 3-0 after the first period and 4-0 after the second - averaged a TAD of 5.161 million viewers. TV-only viewership on NBC peaked at 5.426 million viewers from 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET. Digitally, the game delivered 274,000 uniques, up +26% vs. last year's Game 4; 17.4 million live minutes, up +8%; and an Average Minute Audience of 100,200 viewers, up +22%.
Washington, D.C., delivered a 22.9 local rating, the highest rated Capitals game ever on the networks of NBC in the market, topping last Monday's Stanley Cup Final Game 1 (16.0). For the first time this series, Washington, D.C., led all markets in viewership. Las Vegas' 20.5 local rating stands as its second-highest for a Golden Knights game ever in the market, behind only last week's Game 1 (28.1).
Following are the ratings for the Top 10 markets for last night's Stanley Cup Final Game 4 on NBC:
| Rank | Metered Market | Rating |
| 1 | Washington D.C. | 22.90 |
| 2 | Las Vegas | 20.48 |
| 3 | Baltimore | 12.39 |
| 4 | Richmond | 10.54 |
| 5 | Buffalo | 8.88 |
| 6 | Pittsburgh | 6.92 |
| 7 | Minneapolis | 6.53 |
| 8 | Denver | 5.13 |
| 9 | St. Louis | 4.60 |
| 10 | Nashville | 4.50 |
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