Lost in the NCAA Tournament action last night was the blood rivalry game between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins got the job done last night by shellacking the Canadiens by a 7-0 score making B’s fans across the country quite happy. It also translated to record ratings for NESN, also known as the New England Sports Network, making the regional sports network number one in the Boston-Manchester, NH market in the men’s 25-54 demographic and giving it a 6.6 Household rating which is a record for a regular season NHL game. The previous record was a 6.2 set earlier in the month last year. Oops.
Yes, the Bruins are hot in Boston right now. Here are the details from NESN.
Last night’s 7-0 Bruins win over the Canadiens garnered a 6.6 household rating on NESN according to Nielsen, which is the highest rated regular season game in the network’s 27 year history covering the Bruins. NESN’s previous regular season ratings record was a 6.2 household rating for the March, 18, 2010 game when the Bruins played the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden.
Against a very competitive network prime lineup, which included the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the Bruins ranked #1 in the Boston DMA in Men 25-54, #2 in Adults 18-49 and #3 in Households and Adults 25-54.
NESN’s pre and post-game shows as well as NESN Daily also earned strong numbers.
Bruins FaceOff LIVE – 1.4 HH rating
Bruins Overtime LIVE – 5.3 HH rating (season best)
NESN Daily – 2.7 HH rating
NESN has two more games over the weekend and I would think they would do well also.