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2016 Stanley Cup Final most-watched non-'Original Six' series in 15 years

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Tue, Jun 14th 2016 03:05 pm

6-game Stanley Cup Final averages nearly 4 million viewers

The six-game 2016 Stanley Cup Final featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks averaged nearly 4 million viewers (3.948 million), making it the most-watched non-"Original Six" series in 15 years, according to Fast National Ratings by The Nielsen Co.

Game 6, in which the Pittsburgh Penguins won their first Stanley Cup since 2009 with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose, averaged 5.407 million viewers, making it NBC's most-watched non-"Original Six" Stanley Cup Final game ever. The game is expected to win the night in the advertiser-coveted P18-49 demo (1.9) among broadcast networks when the final numbers are confirmed.

Viewership was up 31 percent vs. the 2012 Stanley Cup Final (3.012 million), the last cup final to feature two non-"Original Six" teams (New Jersey/Los Angeles). The final averaged a 2.3 HH rating across the six games on NBC/NBCSN.

The 2016 Stanley Cup Final averaged a 31.7 rating in Pittsburgh on NBC/NBCSN, up 5 percent from the 2008 Penguins-Red Wings Stanley Cup Final six-game average on NBC/Versus (30.1), and up 10 percent vs. the 2009 Cup Final six-game average featuring the same two teams (28.7; series ultimately went to seven games). On NBC, the four games averaged a 34.3 rating in Pittsburgh, up from the average Pittsburgh rating on NBC in 2008 (34.0; 4 games) and 2009 (32.2; 5 games).

In the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose market, the final posted a 7.0 rating on NBC/NBCSN, up 79 percent from the average rating in the market during the 2016 Western Conference Final (3.9). The rating increased each game in the market, culminating with a 9.2 rating for Game 6, the highest-rated Sharks game ever on the networks of NBCUniversal in that market.

Buffalo finished third.

Following are the top 10 markets for the 2016 Stanley Cup Final:

 

Following are the top 10 markets for the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

 

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