NHL Coverage Bumps NBCSN to Best Primetime Results Yet

Propelled by its exclusive NHL Wednesday Night Rivalry andSunday Night Hockey coverage, NBCSN delivered the best first-quarter primetime viewership in the network's history, according to live plus same day data released by The Nielsen Company.

NBCSN averaged 258,000 viewers in primetime in the first quarter (December 28-March 27), up 19% from the first quarter of 2015 (217,000), and up 2% from the previous record set in the first quarter of 2009 (252,000).

The record viewership was driven by NBCSN's NHL game telecasts on Wednesday Night Rivalry andSunday Night Hockey. In Q1, NBCSN's Wednesday Night Rivalry averaged 594,000 viewers, up 5% vs. 2015 (568,000), while NBCSN's Sunday Night Hockey averaged 533,000 viewers, up 49% vs. 2015 (357,000). NBCSN's 10 most-watched NHL games this season have been either Wednesday Night Rivalryor Sunday Night Hockey matchups.

In addition, NBCSN's presentation of the 2016 NHL ALL-STAR GAME on Jan. 31 was the most-watched NHL ALL-STAR GAME in the network's history. The game averaged 1.595 million viewers, up 34% vs. 2015 (1.194 million).

NBCSN averaged 100,000 viewers for Q1 Total Day (6 a.m.-6 a.m.), up 11% from the first quarter of 2015 (90,000).

GOLF CHANNEL POSTS FOURTH CONSECUTIVE QUARTER OF VIEWERSHIP GROWTH

NBC Sports Group's Golf Channel also continued its growth in the first quarter. As announced yesterday, Golf Channel posted a 15% increase in Total Day viewership for first-quarter 2016 vs. 2015, marking four consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth for the network.

NBC Sports Group's upcoming event coverage in the second quarter will feature comprehensive coverage of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Triple Crown, the French Open, The Players' Championship, and U.S. Olympic Trials coverage, leading into the 2016 Olympic Games from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August.

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