The start of the NHL's January 1 showpiece at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh was delayed from 13:00 to 20:00 local time, with the Washington Capitals’ 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the outdoor arena pulling in a 2.3 rating and 4% share on NBC.
The audience represented a 10% increase from 2.1 4% for last year's game, which saw the Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 at Fenway Park. Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a programme, while shares represent the percentage of all homes with TVs in use at the time.
NBC has stated that the 2011 edition of the Winter Classic was the most-watched regular-season NHL game since 1975. A bumper crowd of 68,111 turned up for the New Year’s Day game.
“This is reality hockey when you take it outdoors,” said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who insisted that the rain had not ruined the event. “It becomes a little unpredictable. All in all it was a good event and we were very pleased with what we saw.”
He added: “I also want to make a point of thanking all of our partners on the business side, particularly our broadcast partner at NBC for showing the flexibility that was necessary to deal with the weather issues that we confronted.”
