TORONTO (October 10, 2017) Hockey is back and fans are continuing to make Saturday Canada’s favourite night for hockey, as the first Hockey Night in Canada broadcast of the season marks the most-watched opening Saturday night since 2013. With five games on the schedule featuring all seven Canadian teams across three channels (Sportsnet ONE, City, CBC), the average minute audience for the night was 1.87 million Canadians, up 13% over the opening Saturday night of 2016.
“The momentum that was built during the playoffs last season has carried right into the start of this NHL season,” said Scott Moore, President, Sportsnet & NHL Properties, Rogers Media. “Canadian fans are clearly excited about the potential that this hockey season could bring for their favourite teams. The on-ice product has been phenomenal so far with no shortage of storylines and entertainment.”
Additional key audience highlights of the Hockey Night in Canada season premiere include:
- Season premiere broadcast reached 8.7 million Canadians across all networks.
- Average minute audience for the games at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT (NY Rangers @ Toronto Maple Leafs; Montreal Canadiens @ Washington Capitals; Detroit Red Wings @ Ottawa Senators) was 27 million viewers, making it the second most-watched program of the week.
- Average minute audience for the games at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (Edmonton Oilers @ Vancouver Canucks; Winnipeg Jets @ Calgary Flames) was 1.5 million, marking a 50% increase in viewership over last year’s opening late game broadcast.
- Hockey Night in Canada was the most-watched program of the night.
Sportsnet’s coverage of the 2017-18 NHL season continues tonight at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT with the inaugural home opener for the Vegas Golden Knights, airing on Sportsnet and Sportsnet 360, and the Ottawa Senators at the Vancouver Canucks on Sportsnet Pacific.
Source: Numeris; 2014/15 – 2017/18 NHL regular season; Ind.2+ AMA & Reach; (2017/18 data included Live + 1-day playback); RSPN Total; Total Canada.
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Sportsnet is Canada’s #1 sports media brand, uniting Canadians through sport with the content they love, accessible from anywhere. Delivering world-class storytelling on a local, regional, national and global level, the multiplatform brand consists of Sportsnet, sportsnet.ca, Sportsnet 590 The FAN, Sportsnet 960 The FAN, Sportsnet 650, Sportsnet NOW, and the Sportsnet app. Sportsnet consists of four regional channels (Sportsnet East, Ontario, West and Pacific), and the nationally-distributed Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet 360, and Sportsnet World. Sportsnet is the official Canadian NHL national multimedia rights holder, and is also the official regional television broadcast rights holder for the Calgary Flames (including radio rights on Sportsnet 960 The FAN), Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs (including radio rights on Sportsnet 590 The FAN) and Vancouver Canucks (including radio rights on Sportsnet 650). Sportsnet also has exclusive TV & radio coverage of all 162 Blue Jays games, as well as other MLB games, Toronto Raptors, NBA, Grand Slam of Curling, Rogers Cup, CHL, IndyCar, and extensive soccer programming including Premier League, Bundesliga, FA Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers.
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