The Caps-Canadiens Game 7 on Wednesday night drew an 8.1 household rating in the Washington market, according to Comcast SportsNet. That’s the highest-rated hockey game in that network’s history. A CSN release pegged that number at around 189,000 households. But the game also averaged a 3.1 in the Baltimore area so the overall regional audience was about 226,000. At its peak late in the third period the game was seen by 297,000 households in the region. CSN was the most-watched network in Washington on Wednesday night – cable or otherwise. It’s not exactly Hockeytown, of course. Those ratings wouldn’t raise any eyebrows in Detroit or Pittsburgh or Buffalo. But this team has clearly taken hold among area sports fans. Will be interesting to see if the lost momentum after this year’s playoff disappointment translates into lower ratings next year as fans become ho-hum about success. Or if this is just the beginning of an established ratings power.
