They won't admit it, but privately NBC will be rooting for the Blackhawks to pull off the comeback against the Kings this weekend.
Having the Hawks in the Stanley Cup Final is huge for NBC. Not as much with the Kings.
With the Rangers and Kings still alive, Chicago technically is the nation's No. 3 TV market in terms of overall viewers during the playoffs. But thanks to the avid following for the Hawks, the town is a clear-cut No. 1 in terms of delivering hockey viewers.
The numbers tell the story. Before Thursday's Rangers-Montreal game, New York was averaging a 4.1 rating for Rangers games during the playoffs; Los Angeles is at 1.7 for Kings games. Meanwhile, Chicago checks in at a robust 13.4 for Hawks playoff games.
While being careful not to play favorites in the Western Conference finals, NBC announcer Mike Emrick knows what the Blackhawks have meant to the NBC in recent years.
"It's a magical time for hockey in Chicago," Emrick said. "There's a passion that is hard to discount. Even Mr. Fix-it on Saturday morning is talking Blackhawks hockey."
The rating for the Hawks' overtime victory in Game 5 really hammers it home. The game pulled a 16.3 rating in Chicago. It only did a 3.0 rating in Los Angeles even though the Kings had a chance to clinch a bid to the Stanley Cup Final.
Here's a further breakdown of the numbers: 1 rating point in Chicago is worth approximately 35,000 homes; 56,000 homes in Los Angeles, the No. 2 market. That means Game 5 was seen in 576,000 homes in Chicago compared to 169,000 for Los Angeles. To put it in further perspective, the Chicago rating accounted for an astounding 39 percent of the national rating for NBCSN.
The 3.0 rating for Game 5 actually was considered good for Los Angeles. However, even though the Kings were founded in 1967, and were a Stanley Cup winner in 2012, hockey still flies mostly below the radar out there. The land of the stars still prefers ice in their drinks, not necessarily in their sports.
When the Kings won the 2012 Final in six games over the Devils, the series averaged 3 million viewers per telecast, the worst since 2007. Los Angeles averaged a 7.2 for the six games.
Contrast those numbers to Chicago in the 2013 Final, when the Game 6 clincher pulled a 30.2 rating here (1.05 million homes). Thanks to strong ratings in Boston, the entire series averaged 5.8 million viewers per game, the highest since 1994.
The Blackhawks' drawing power also goes beyond Chicago. They might be No. 1 in terms of national appeal.
The Rangers also are up there. NBC and the NHL salivate at the notion of a second straight Original 6 Final.
Cubs radio: As reported here previously, the Cubs soon will announce their new radio deal with WBBM-AM 780, beginning with the 2015 season. The two sides reportedly are ironing out final details, and WGN is not expected to match WBBM's offer.
Remote patrol: Chicago basketball fans will want to set the DVR for "The84Draft," a new NBA TV documentary on June 9 at 8 p.m. A good portion of the film obviously will focus on the Bulls getting Michael Jordan with the third pick. But it's not all about No. 23. That draft produced four Hall of Famers out of the NBA — Jordan, Akeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and John Stockton. … Former Illinois and recently retired Giants offensive lineman David Diehl is on the fast track with his new career. Fox Sports named him as a game analyst for its NFL coverage next year. … Marv Albert told Awful Announcing that he will give up his NFL play-by-play duties on CBS next year. He wants to concentrate only on basketball. … What was the top-rated sports event last weekend? If you answered Game 3 of the Heat-Pacers series or the Indianapolis 500, you're wrong. NASCAR rules, as the Coca-Cola 600 on Fox pulled in 7 million viewers.
Ed Sherman writes at shermanreport.com. Follow him @Sherman_Report.
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