Sportsnet nets huge numbers in first post-lockout NHL broadcasts

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While Hockey Night in Canada broke audience records for their Saturday afternoon and prime east games, hockey fans also tuned to Sportsnet to watch regional broadcasts of their favourite teams on Sunday and Monday. In doing so, a viewership record was broken for a Leafs game on the Rogers-owned sports channel. Here are the audience numbers for the Sunday games from the Sportsnet press release:

Sunday, Jan. 20

·         San Jose Sharks @ Calgary Flames on Sportsnet West at 4 p.m. MT: attracted an average audience of 296,000 viewers, marking a 120% increase from the Calgary Flames vs. St. Louis Blues broadcast on Sportsnet West on Oct. 10, 2011 (134,000 viewers).

·         Edmonton Oilers @ Vancouver Canucks on Sportsnet West at 7 p.m. MT: attracted an average audience of 386,000 viewers, marking an increase of 24% from the Edmonton Oilers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins broadcast on Oct. 9, 2011 (310,000 viewers). This was the third most-watched Oilers game of all-time on Sportsnet West.

·         Edmonton Oilers @ Vancouver Canucks on Sportsnet Pacific at 6 p.m. PT: attracted an average audience of 623,000 viewers, marking an increase of 32% from the Canucks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets broadcast on Oct. 10, 2011 (473,000 viewers). This was the fifth most-watched Canucks game of all-time on Sportsnet Pacific.

Adding the Sportsnet West and Pacific audiences of the Oilers-Canucks contest results in a total of 1,009,000 average viewers.

Monday games:

·         Buffalo Sabres @ Toronto Maple Leafs on Sportsnet Ontario at 7 p.m. ET: attracted an average audience of 1.1 million viewers, the highest average audience in Sportsnet history for its NHL regional broadcasts, and marking an increase of 32% from the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Colorado Avalanche broadcast on Oct. 17, 2011 (811,000 viewers)
 

·         Florida Panthers @ Ottawa Senators on Sportsnet East at 7:30 p.m. ET: attracted an average audience of 308,000 viewers, marking an increase of 50% from the Ottawa Senators vs. Detroit Red Wings broadcast on Oct. 7, 2011 (205,000 viewers)

The Ottawa and Calgary games presumably didn't make their own all-time Sportsnet top 5 since there were no mentions of their ranking.

Given that the Leafs roster has mostly remained the same since the end of last season, there was still a hunger for the Leafs. Perhaps, the win over Montreal on Saturday night left Leafs fans with a bit of hope before Monday's game.

TSN also broadcasted games, but they didn't involve Canadian teams and it showed in the numbers. Sunday's game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Phoenix Coyotes garnered 219, 000 viewers on average, while Monday's game featuring the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets attracted 286,000 fans.