NHL Ratings Jump A Little

For the first time in five years, the Stanley Cup finals went more than four games, but television ratings didn't jump much.

ESPN and Fox each aired three games in the Dallas Stars-Buffalo Sabres series, and both had a minimal ratings increase from last season.

ESPN's three-game average was a 3.09 rating, up 17 percent from last year's 2.65. The cable network had a controversial triple-overtime thriller in Game 6, which received a 3.51 mark, the highest-rated game in two seasons.

"Ratings were up and everything was coming to a great ending for the first time in five years," ESPN analyst Bill Clement said. "But I don't think it will hurt our viewership in the long term."

Fox, which lost its NHL rights to ABC beginning next season, posted a 3.4 mark an increase of 3 percent from the 3.3 it received for Game 1 of the 1998 Stanley Cup finals.

The rating is the percentage of TV households in the United States tuned to a program.

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