Your Announcers and Open Thread For Night 39 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Boston vs. Tampa Bay, Game 6, 8:00 p.m. ET

National TV (US): VERSUS
Play by Play: Mike Emrick
Color: Eddie Olczyk
Inside the Glass: Pierre McGuire

National TV (Canada): CBC
Play by Play: Bob Cole
Color: Gary Galley
Reporter: Scott Oake

Boston Scores Big For Game 4 On NBC

NBC’s numbers show that while the Boston market has hit a fever pitch, there is still some growing that needs to be done in “less traditional” though successful on-ice markets like Tampa Bay and the Bay Area.

NBC’s broadcast of Game 4 between the Bruins and Lightning – which drew a 1.5 nationally – scored a 12.3/36 in Boston (#7 in US TV market size). That means more than a third of all televisions turned on at the time were watching the Bruins lose to the Lightning. The broadcast is well up from NBC’s last Bruins telecast, though it was for a Game 1 in the last round against Philadelphia. That telecast drew an 11.1/29.

The game drew a 5.2/14 in Tampa Bay (#13 in TV market size), which isn’t bad (considering that Game 1 between the Bruins and Flyers drew a 6.6/17 in Philadelphia) but not world-beating.

The Sunday broadcast of Game 4 between the Sharks and Canucks had a bit more of an uphill climb, ratings-wise, since it featured a Canadian team and only had one local market to draw from. That market was San Jose/San Francisco, where the game scored a 4.5/15 in the country’s sixth biggest television market. Again, a decent number, but not much higher than NBC’s Game 2 broadcast of Red Wings/Sharks a few weeks ago, which drew a 4.3/14. The game hit a 1.3 rating nationally.

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Eastern Conference Final Continues Solid Run on VERSUS

While the Western Conference Final continues to decrease in viewers, the Eastern Conference Final remains fairly strong for VERSUS.

VERSUS’ Monday night broadcast of Game 5 between the Lightning and Bruins drew 1.51 million viewers for the network. It was up 8% from the network’s telecast of Game 3 between the same two teams (1,405,000 viewers on 5/19/11), but was slightly below the viewership levels for Games 1 (1,541,000 viewers on 5/14/11) and 2 (1,562,000 viewers on 5/17/11).

So far, VERSUS has averaged 1.50 million viewers for the Eastern Conference Final through four telecasts.

Top 10 in Viewers For 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs on VERSUS

1. Boston vs. Philadelphia, Game 2 (5/2/11) – 1,699,000 viewers
2. Detroit vs. San Jose, Game 5 (5/8/11) – 1,627,000 viewers
3. Tampa Bay vs. Boston, Game 2 (5/17/11) – 1,562,000 viewers
4. Tampa Bay vs. Boston, Game 1 (5/14/11) – 1,541,000 viewers
5. Tampa Bay vs. Boston, Game 5 (5/23/11) – 1,516,000 viewers
6. Boston vs. Tampa Bay, Game 3 (5/19/11) – 1,405,000 viewers
7. Tampa Bay vs. Washington, Game 2 (5/1/11) – 1,261,000 viewers
8. Detroit vs. San Jose, Game 7 (5/12/11) – 1,251,000 viewers
9. Philadelphia vs. Boston, Game 3 (5/4/11) – 1,234,000 viewers
10. Vancouver vs. Chicago, Game 6 (4/24/11) – 1,157,000 viewers

VERSUS Conference Final numbers

Western Conference (San Jose vs. Vancouver)
Game 1 (5/15/11): 1,009,000 viewers
Game 2 (5/18/11): 847,000 viewers
Game 3 (5/20/11): 714,000 viewers
Average: 856,000 viewers

Eastern Conference (Tampa Bay vs. Boston)
Game 1 (5/14/11): 1,540,000 viewers
Game 2 (5/17/11): 1,562,000 viewers
Game 3 (5/19/11): 1,405,000 viewers
Game 5 (5/23/11): 1,516,000 viewers
Average : 1,505,750 viewers