Quote:
Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug
For sure. The surprising thing was the Ranger series was the last, worst rated. I would have thought it was a smaller market series.
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I think there were a few factors to that...
- As mentioned, MSG had the ESPN broadcast blocked in NYC, so if you were in the local area, you had to watch on MSG, which wasn't counted in the national numbers.
- The Rangers' opponent was Vancouver. When there's a Canadian team in the Final, the ratings are lower in the States.
- The NHL hadn't been on broadcast television in over a decade at that point. The NHL on Fox contract started the following season. 1994 was the last time the Cup winning game was not on broadcast tv in the States (prior to this year). Ratings are lower for games on cable compared to network.
Ultimately, nothing has changed in 30 years. The TV ratings are going to be at the mercy of 3 major factors:
- Which teams are playing. Original 6 teams are the best draws. Newer teams, "sunbelt" teams, small market teams, and Canadian teams are the worst.
- Where the games are airing. Broadcast network games do better numbers than cable-only games.
- How close the series is. Longer series tend to get better ratings as more people tune in to 6 or 7 game series than 4 or 5.
This year hit the trifecta: 2 uninteresting teams for the casual fan, all games on TNT, and a 5 game series with 2 blowouts.
