Ratings Roundup: Versus Scores With Lightning-Bruins Game 7

The NBC Sports group enjoyed its biggest ratings night of the NHL postseason on Friday night. Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins pulled in 2.55 million viewers on Versus, making it the most viewed non-Stanley Cup Finals broadcast in the history of the network. The Bruins’ victory was also the highest rated conference finals game on cable since Game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings on ESPN.

…TNT enjoyed a lucrative spring, as the network’s coverage of the NBA Playoffs was the most watched in cable television history. It’s 40-game coverage of the NBA Playoffs set ratings and viewership records for cable and soared over TNT’s coverage last year, averaging a 3.5 U.S. HH Rating (+25%), 5,534,000 Total Viewers (+29%) and 3,999,000 Households (+26%). With the NBA Playoffs performing at record levels, TNT topped the ad-supported cable rankings as the #1 network in primetime throughout its six weeks of coverage (4/17-5/24). Additionally, TNT won the night in key adult demos for both broadcast and cable 15 of 22 nights for M18-34, 10 times in M18-49, five times in P18-34, six times for M25-54 and twice for P18-49.

…Coverage of the NASCAR: Coca-Cola 600 gave FOX a ratings win on Sunday. The race, which ran in primetime, registered 7.66 million viewers making it the most watched television broadcast of the night. In the key demographic of adults ages 18-49, the race pulled a 2.3.

…Two major events from the weekend, the Indianapolis 500 (ABC) and the UEFA Champions League Final (FOX), were non-primetime broadcasts, so official ratings numbers will likely not be available until the end of the week. According to Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand, the Champions League Final pulled a preliminary 1.8 nationwide. The Indy 500, meanwhile, was looking to ride the high of its 100th anniversary to bounce back from a ratings low of 3.68 a year ago.

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