Skate aside, Buffalo.
Pittsburgh jumped over the perennial ratings powerhouse to become NBC’s top market for NHL games during the 2018-19 regular season, the network announced, averaging a 1.3 rating. The network accounted for games on both NBC and NBC Sports Network.
The Penguins’ prime-time March 10 matchup vs. the Boston Bruins was NBCSN’s highest-rated game of the year, averaging 736,000 viewers. It was NBCSN’s highest-rated game since the 2017-18 season-opener between the Penguins and St. Louis Blues.
The Stadium Series game between the Penguins the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 23 on NBC averaged 1.969 million viewers, up from 1.117 million in the 2018 Stadium Series game between the Washington Capitals and Toronto Maple Leafs.
NBC says it was the most-watched non-Winter Classic regular-season game in five years.
The Penguins also were part of the most-streamed game on the NBC Sports app. The Jan. 6 matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks reached 96,700 unique devices.
Buffalo (1.18) ranked No. 2 in ratings. Las Vegas (0.98), St. Louis (0.87) and Minneapolis (0.67) rounded out the top five.
Pittsburgh edges out Buffalo for the top NHL market this season! Pittsburgh led all local markets with a 1.30 household rating for games on NBC and NBCSN. It also led all markets for NBC games with a 3.55 rating and finished second behind Buffalo (1.08) for games on NBCSN (1.02). pic.twitter.com/dTgEhPcWs6
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) April 8, 2019
The Penguins will play nationally on NBC on Sunday in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round game against the New York Islanders.
