NHL -SeSemerket on ESPN and TNT looks really terrible

NHL’s viewership matches continue into 2025.

After the league had gone to a bad start to the season, when he saw a steep fall of 39% over the year in opening the evening’s viewership and then pulling a record -making audience for the winter classic a few months later, NHL puts some really terrible numbers when it comes into doldrums in its regular season.

According to Braylon Breeze of Sports Media Watch, last Thursday’s match between San Jose Sharks and Seattle Kraken was only 175,000 viewers on ESPN-the least watched NHL game in the year of the network and the lowest program on ESPN for all day.

The game that began at 1 p.m. 22.30 a first-class TV-window was left out of its lead-in, an Iowa State-Kansa’s State Women’s Basketball Game, more than 2 to 1st Cyclones and Wildcats were an average of 390,000 viewers, per. Programming Insider.

Thursday’s Sharks-Kraken competition on ESPN On average only 175,000 viewers, the lowest NHL showed the ESPN game for this season to date.

The game received a small lead-in, for ESPN Standards, which was a Women’s College Basketball match between Tennessee-Texas (390K).

The shark-crack …

– Braylon Brayze (@Braylon_Breeze) February 3, 2025

Wednesday’s viewer didn’t look much better. A Philadelphia Flyers-New Jersey Devils game on TNT and TRUTV was an average Local broadcasts). Later that evening, average TNT and TRUTV on average a warm 138,000 viewers for a Pittsburgh Penguins-Dutah Hockey Club game, which in itself was a non-exclusive broadcast.

Of course, these numbers do not look good for the NHL, no matter how you slice them. ESPN has regularly drawn almost a million viewers recently for a brand new property such as TGL. Even Thursday’s east-west shrine bowl on the NFL Network (a 25-0 down) NHL draws on ESPN with approx. 10,000 viewers.

If there is a silver for NHL, it is viewer at ABC. According to Breeze, ABC’s Saturday match between New York Rangers and Boston Bruins drew a season high 1.1 million viewers on the network. NHL’s few broadcast windows this season have generally worked well.

ABC Hockey Saturday Viewership:

Blackhawks-Panthers were an average of 723,000 viewers in the opening window, while Rangers-Brins drew a season high 1.1 million viewers in the later window. There was no comparison with last year.

ABC’s season average is 888,000 viewers with …

– Braylon Brayze (@Braylon_Breeze) February 4, 2025

Of course, leagues such as NHL, NBA and MLB are pretty much judged after their success after the season, not what viewers of the season look like. It is difficult to generate national interest in regular seasons with 80+ games. But given where hockey viewing is at the moment, autumn success sees less and less likely off the NHL this year.