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Game 6 delivers Chicago’s biggest NHL ratings ever on NBC

Game 6 delivers Chicago’s biggest NHL ratings ever on NBC

CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup on home ice in 77 years, and it appears more than a few locals were interested in witnessing history.

Game 6 between the Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning pulled a 41 rating and a 57 share in Chicago, the highest on record for an NBC hockey broadcast in the city. Tampa Bay’s 15.2 rating was its second-highest number ever for NBC hockey, short of the 17.9 rating for Game 1 of the series.

The national rating for the game delivered a 5.6 overnight, making it the third-highest Stanley Cup Final Game 6 since 1995 on any network.

From NBC:

The 5.6 overnight for Game 6, in which the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 to win their third Stanley Cup in six years, trails only the 2010 Game 6 between the Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers (5.8) and the 2013 Game 6 between the Blackhawks and Boston Bruins (5.7). Last night’s game is up 40% vs. the 2012 Game 6 between the New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings (4.0)

.Locally, the Chicago market delivered a 41.0 HH rating, its highest ever for a Blackhawks game, and a 57 share. The Chicago rating is the highest local rating for any market for a non-Game 7 on NBC. Tampa posted a 15.2 HH rating, its second-best ever on NBC.

Here are the top 10 markets and their ratings for Game 6 last night:

Chicago 41.0; Tampa 15.2; Buffalo 10.5; Milwaukee 7.9; Denver 7.6; Minneapolis/St. Paul 7.5; Boston 6.7; Providence 5.8; St. Louis 5.8; Las Vegas 5.1.

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Overall, the NHL will be pleased with these numbers. The series on the whole tracked higher than last year, although it couldn’t quite hit the heights of Chicago’s series against the Boston Bruins in 2013, which produced a massive 8.2 million viewers for that Game 6. But this series posted big ratings without the benefit of overtime, which is also impressive.