NHL sees 12% rise in early ratings with Winter Classic

via Bloomberg:

The Detroit Red Wings’ 6-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks yesterday at Wrigley Field topped last year’s National Hockey League outdoor game by 12 percent in preliminary television ratings.

The game at the home of baseball’s Chicago Cubs was the third annual outdoor contest and had an overnight rating of 2.9, according to Nielsen Media Research. That tops the 2.6 rating for last year’s match in snowy Buffalo, New York, between the Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins, which had the biggest television audience for an NHL game since 1996.

Yesterday’s game, which was broadcast on General Electric Co.’s NBC network, drew a sellout crowd of 40,818 to the 95- year-old ballpark on the Chicago’s north side. While there was no snow this year, the game-time temperature was about 31 degrees Fahrenheit (-0.5 Celsius), leading many players to wear ski-mask style headwear under their helmets.

Ratings points are the percentage of the estimated 111.3 million U.S. households with televisions that watched the broadcast. Preliminary local ratings were 11.8 in Chicago and 10.5 in Detroit, according to Nielsen data.

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  4. Winter Classic should be just that
  5. Find the Lost Logo at NHL Winter Classic 2009

1 Comment »

  1. Dagens hockey 090103 4:31 | Dagens Hockey Said,

    January 2, 2009 @ 10:37 pm

    [...] Month - Kuklas Corner    Winter Classic Ratings - Kuklas Corner    NHL sees 12% rise in early ratings with Winter Classic - The Hockey Herald    Penguins should pass on Happy Valley possibility [...]

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