Buoyed by the concluding games of two postseason series, Comcast SportsNet Chicago set a new ratings on Tuesday night, eclipsing a record established just the week before.
The RSN's coverage of the NHL Chicago Blackhawks' Game 7 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, the NBA Bulls' Game 5 series clinching win over the Indiana Pacers and MLB's White Sox's 3-2 triumph over the New York Yankees combined to deliver a 25.62 household rating and 897,366 households in the Chicago DMA on April 26, according to Nielsen data. That delivery topped the 25.30 mark CSN Chicago posted on April 21, with coverage of the three squads' contests.
Although the defending Stanley Cup champions wound up on the wrong end of 2-1 OT thriller in Game 7, CSN Chicago was the Nielsen beneficiary with the telecast scoring a 13.33 household rating and 466,897 households in the Windy City environs. That iced the RSN's coverage of Game 6 on April 24, which produced a 12.45 household rating, as the best-ever Blackhwaks telecast on the service. The game, which peaked with an 18.35 DMA rating and 642,727 households in the 9:45 p.m. (CT) quarter hour, now ranks as the RSN's second-highest-rated contest overall.
Measured against last year's first round playoff series against the Nashville Predators, CSN's first-round NHL playoff ratings surged 47% among households and 59% against adults 25 to 54.
Relative to Derrick Rose's Bulls eliminating the Pacers, CSN dunked a 10.93 household rating and 382,834 households, according to Nielsen. That stands as the RSN's second-highest-rated game with the NBA club, behind the 13.69 it netted on April 21 as the service's best-ever mark since tipping off in October 2004. Game 5, which peaked with a 14.2 and 477,369 households in the 9:30 p.m. quarter hour, helped CSN lift its first-round playoff average 211% among households and 279% with adults 25 to 54 over its coverage of the team's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening round of the 2010 NBA playoffs, according to network officials.
As for the White Sox-Yankees game, a come-from-behind win for the visitors in The Bronx, it averaged a 1.36 rating.
