BOSTON, MA – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, earned a 14.2 household rating in the Boston DMA for game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal against the Carolina Hurricanes. This is by far the highest Bruins game rating in NESN’s 25 year history, beating the previous top rating (11.2 for the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 7) by a full three rating points.
The 14.2 rating means that an average of 340,800 households in the Boston television market were watching NESN’s 3 ½ hours of coverage. The ratings peaked during overtime with an 18.6 household rating between 11 PM and 11:15 PM, which equals a total of 446,400 households.
NESN’s game 7 ratings in the key demographic categories also established new network records, including a 15.9 for Men 25-54, a 12.4 for Adults 25-54 and an 8.8 for Women 25-54. NESN’s household rating and almost every demo rating was #1 in the Boston DMA on Thursday night beating every other program in the market including season finales on all the major broadcast networks.
"The Bruins had a remarkable run this season and Bruins fans have proven without a doubt that Boston is one of the best hockey towns in the country," said NESN president Sean McGrail. "We want to thank Bruins fans for making this hockey season the most watched in our 25 years of covering the black and gold."
During the 2009 playoffs, NESN carried a total of 9 games and established new network post-season records for live game coverage (9.6), pre-game (2.7) and post-game programming (2.7). This season’s playoffs also generated five of the top seven Bruins telecasts in network history.
