Wednesday night was a busy one for DC sports fans, with both the Capitals and Wizards playing first round playoff games in primetime.
The Capitals led the way with an overnight rating of 4.34 in the Washington market, according to Nielsen overnight numbers. That rating combines a 3.42 average rating on CSN as well as a 0.92 rating on NBC Sports Network.
The Wizards lagged slightly behind with an average household rating of 3.28 in the Washington market. Their game was shown on CSN Plus in the DC area (it was picked up by NBA TV nationally). Game two was the highest-rated playoff game ever on CSN Mid-Atlantic or CSN Plus.
The Nationals finished third with a 2.57 rating on MASN.
The Capitals game peaked with a 6.34 rating near the end of the game, while the Wizards peaked with a 4.3 rating around the same time (approximately 9:30-9:45 PM). The Nationals peaked after the playoff games finished with a 3.36 rating.
As for how those ratings translate to number of viewers, the Capitals averaged about 159,000 viewers between the two networks, the Wizards averaged 121,000, and the Nationals about 99,000.
In all, about 489,000 people watched at least one of the three games—229,000 on the Capitals, 158,000 on the Wizards, and 102,000 on the Nationals. Some of those viewers were likely counted twice by flipping between games.
This was the second time in recent years that all three teams played on an April weeknight. That night, the Capitals averaged a 3.28 rating, the Wizards a 2.36, and the Nationals a 2.50. All three teams eclipsed those numbers Wednesday night.
CSN Mid-Atlantic also recorded its highest-ever streaming numbers for Wednesday night’s Wizards game.
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