NHL Scores on NBC

Nielsen Ratings June 2, 2008: 5.8 Million Watched Hockey

OK, so more people watched reruns of Bones, House, Big Bang Theory (and everything else on CBS), but the NHL Stanley Cup game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings reeled in almost 6 million, definitely the most watched Stanley Cup Finals game in a good long while.

Moreover, the game led NBC to a tie for first place in the 18-49 demo with CBS so even though NBC was fourth for the night in total viewers, it was number one with the viewers who seem to matter most.

FOX had the most average viewers with repeats of Bones and House. House had very strong performance for a rerun, as did CBS’ Two and a Half Men, and you could probably include the repeats of CBS’ Rules of Engagement and CSI:Miami as performing well, too.

While there was more interest in ABC’s The Bachelorette than the hockey game, there wasn’t much more interest and although it had more viewers with 6.45mm, it only had a 2.1/6 in the 18-49 demo. That’s better than the debut of The Mole which averaged 4.73m and a 2.0/6 in the 18-49 year old demographic. Looks like both the mole, and its viewers are in hiding.