Despite Penguins' exit, Pittsburgh market remains in top 10 in playoff TV ratings
Despite a quick exit for the home team, Pittsburgh remains one of the top markets in the country when it comes to TV ratings for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Through two rounds, Pittsburgh ranks as the seventh-best market with a 1.65 rating.
It’s a big drop from last season, when Pittsburgh ranked first in the country with a 4.21 rating through three rounds, though those numbers were posted under very different circumstances.
Last year, the Penguins advanced to the second round before being eliminated by Washington and much of the fanbase was captivated by the run to the final series by Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights. This year, the Penguins were swept out of the first round by the New York Islanders.
Buffalo leads the country with a 2.74 rating even though the Sabres didn’t make the playoffs. Boston, St. Louis, Providence, Columbus and Denver round out the top six. Minneapolis, Raleigh and Las Vegas were behind Pittsburgh in the top 10.
Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.
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