On Saturday night, 9.8 million Canadians tuned into some or all of the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, setting a Hockey Night in Canadarecord for audience reach on the opening Saturday in October of the NHL season.
“Seeing Canadians connecting with their game across so many platforms, and engaging with us in so many ways, is a great way to kick off the season for Hockey Night in Canada and Rogers Hometown Hockey,” said Scott Moore, President, Sportsnet & NHL Properties, Rogers Media. “We’re off to a strong start, and are looking forward to reaching more Canadians than ever before throughout the season.”
Key audience highlights of Hockey Night in Canada and Rogers Hometown Hockey opening night broadcasts include:
Hockey Night in Canada – Saturday, Oct. 11
- Hockey Night in Canada Pre-Game Show, Hockey Central Saturday average audience: 545,000 viewers
- Game One average audience (7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT) (Pittsburgh @ Toronto; Montreal @ Philadelphia; Ottawa @ Tampa Bay; Calgary @ St. Louis; Washington @ Boston):2.23 million viewers
- Game Two average audience (10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT) (Edmonton @ Vancouver; Winnipeg @ San Jose): 1.31 million viewers
- Hockey Night in Canada Post-Game Show (1 a.m. ET / 10 p.m. PT) average audience: 425,000 viewers
Rogers Hometown Hockey on City – Sunday, Oct. 12
The first of 25 Rogers Hometown Hockey NHL regular season broadcasts also experienced a strong debut on Sunday night:
- Pre-Game average audience: 262,000 viewers
- Toronto Maple Leafs @ New York Rangers average audience: 1.07 million viewers
- This marks the third most-watched Sunday broadcast in City history (1. 56th Grammy Awards; Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014, 2.56 million viewers. 2. The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute To The Beatles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014, 1.53 million viewers)
*Audience reach information since new BBM measurement system in 2009
Source: Numeris, Total Canada AMA, Reach, October 11-12, 2014, overnight data. All comparisons use Live+Same Day Playback