Ratings: Stanley Cup, NBA Lottery, UCL, and more

As of Thursday, the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs averaged 604,000 viewers on NBC TV and digital platforms, down 3% from the same playoff spot last year (622,000). Round one last year, which included three Race 7s, averaged 778,000. This year’s first round ended on Friday without seven series. If the first round ended below 700,000, it would be the least watched since 2013 (478K), with the caveat that many games have unusual afternoon starts on weekdays.

Cable games averaged 536,000 viewers (including streaming). Excluding weekday matinees, that average rises to 582,000 – just behind 2012 (583K) as the highest on cable at this point in the playoffs since NBC acquired the rights.

Wednesday Canadiens-Flyers Game 5 averaged 0.45 and 748,000 on NBCSN, ranking second in the cable playoffs behind Game 1 of the same series (0.47, 764K). In the nightcap, Canucks-Blues Game 5 had 0.28 and 431,000. Moving on to the afternoon, Hurricanes-Bruins Game 5 scored 519,000 despite a start at 4pm ET, Coyotes-Avalanche Game 5 bonus coverage drew 444,000, and Blue Jackets-Lightning Game 5 only had 283,000 at noon ET.

In other stocks, Capitals-Islanders Game 5 averaged 0.41 and 659,000 on Thursday and Game 4 averaged 0.43 and 652,000 on Tuesday. Stars-Flames Game 6 scored 0.27 and 411,000 in a late night window on Thursday, not much higher than Tuesday’s afternoon Game 5 (380K).

Thursday’s NBA Draft lottery averaged a score of 1.5 and 2.25 million viewers on ESPN, down 48% in ratings and 49% in views from last year, when Zion Williamson was in the project pool (2.9, 4.43 million), but down by a more modest 6% and 7% respectively compared to 2018 (1.6, 2.42 million).

The telecast ranks as the least-watched NBA Draft lottery since at least 2007. Keep in mind that the event usually precedes an NBA conference final. This year it aired between first round matches.

Wednesday’s Bayern Munich-Lyon UEFA Champions League semi-final averaged 963,000 spectators between Univision and TUDN, scoring the largest UCL semi-final audience ever recorded on a single US channel. The match, which peaked at 981,000 from 4-4: 30 am ET, surpassed the previous high of 879,000 set the day before on the same goals.

The four most watched UCL semi-finals aired on Univision. Since neither CBS All-Access nor CBS Sports Network is rated by Nielsen, data for coverage in English is not available.

The first five games of the Blues-Canucks Stanley Cup playoff series, which St. Louis lost in six on Friday night, averaged 6.5 in St. Louis on NBCSN and Fox Sports Midwest, down 27% compared to last year (8.9) for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Four of the first five games started at 9:30 pm local time. … In the heads-up Tuesday night, ESPN averaged 366,000 admissions for Rays-Yankees while FS1 averaged 334,000 for Cardinals-Cubs. Despite cannibalizing each other, both games easily surpassed the networks’ other MLB windows this week, neither of which surpassed 300,000. … Coverage of the Northern Trust opening round, the first PGA Tour Fedex Cup playoff event, averaged 544,000 admissions on the Golf Channel on Thursday (+ 31%).