Last night’s dramatic Game 7 victory by the Montreal Canadiens over the Washington Capitals was watched by an average audience of 4.7 million viewers on TSN and RDS combined according to overnight data from BBM Canada. Audience levels peaked at 8.2 million viewers (TSN and RDS combined) in the final minutes of the third period as Montreal held on to upset Washington and win the series.
TSN’s audience of 2.8 million for the game was the highest audience ever recorded for an NHL game on TSN and was the most-watched program on Canadian television last night in all key advertising demographics.* The Montreal-Washington series ranks as the most-watched playoff series ever on TSN (any rounds) with an average audience of 1.8 million viewers over seven games. With all of the game’s highlights and analysis, SPORTSCENTRE immediately after the game attracted an average audience of 1.1 million viewers.
RDS’ audience of 1.9 million represents an impressive 51% share of the Quebec-Franco market and was the top-ranked French network in all key advertising demographics. RDS’ average for the Montreal-Washington series was 1.34 million over seven games – 12% higher compared to Canadiens playoff games on RDS last season.
The Montreal-Washington Game 7 capped off a record-setting playoff round for TSN. Through 23 NHL playoff games in the first round, TSN averaged more than 1.07 million viewers – 89% higher than its average audience in the first round of the playoffs last season (567,000)*.
TSN’s average audience for each of its first round playoff series is as follows:
* Montreal-Washington (7 games on TSN) – 1.8 million
* Detroit-Phoenix (7 games on TSN) – 811,000
* Chicago-Nashville (5 games on TSN) – 777,000
* New Jersey-Philadelphia (4 games on TSN) – 545,000
TSN’s ongoing NHL playoff coverage continues with coverage of all games from the Eastern Conference semifinal series featuring Boston vs. Philadelphia and the Western Conference semifinal series featuring Detroit vs. San Jose. TSN’s coverage gets underway tonight with Game 1: Detroit @ San Jose at 8:30 p.m. ET. Coverage of the Boston-Philadelphia series begins with Game 1: Philadelphia @ Boston on Saturday, May 1 at 12 noon ET on TSN.
TSN has coverage of the first three rounds of the 2010 STANLEY CUP® PLAYOFFS.
*English-language
**Audiences prior to August 31, 2009 based on BBM Nielsen Media Research Mark II meters.
