TNT tomorrow (June 3) will drop the puck on its first Stanley Cup Finals with the hope fans will watch the games between the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers in the same big numbers as they have throughout the NHL playoffs.
The series will be exclusively on cable, with Warner Bros. Discovery-owned TNT, TBS and truTV simulcasting games beginning with Saturday’s Game 1 in Las Vegas. TNT will air the Stanley Cup Finals in three of the seven years covered by the NHL television deal reached in 2021. It alternates with The Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC, which aired last year’s finals.
The NHL hopes to extend to its strong postseason ratings performance thus far. The first three rounds of the NHL playoffs averaged 1.14 million viewers across ESPN, ABC and TNT, up 2% from last season, according to Nielsen numbers reported by SportsMedia Watch.
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports executive VP and chief content officer Craig Barry said that the company is approaching the Stanley Cup finals with the same “authentic DNA” that it used for its coverage throughout the 2022-23 NHL season, as well as for its NBA regular season and postseason coverage.
“We understand our obligation to the hard-core fan, but more importantly we understand our equal obligation to the casual fan, and that is one of the primary differentiators in our coverage,” he said. “We do that by emphasizing the intersection of sports and culture.”
Barry added that he’s not concerned about hockey fans not being able to find the games on cable, adding that the network’s ratings success will mostly be determined by the play on the ice.
“In the fragmented media landscape, people are becoming more accustomed to finding their sports and events on different platforms, and fans appreciate the best coverage and experience regardless of network,” he said. “These are two terrific teams who deserve to be in the finals. Like all great series, the success of this Finals will be determined by the competition and the stories that unfold.”
As for TNT's NBA playoffs coverage, Barry said the network's strong ratings performance benefited from appealing matchups and great storylines throughout the postseason. Overall, TNT’s playoff games averaged 4.7 million viewers, up 14% from last year, according to SportsMedia Watch.
TNT's May 29 Game 7 coverage of the Boston Celtics-Miami Heat Eastern Conference Finals averaged 11.9 million viewers, making it the third-most-watched NBA game in TNT history.
“Sports are most certainly matchup driven, but with the addition of great storylines and unique and special moments within the series, fans become more emotionally attached to the coverage,” Barry said.
