New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils Score Highest First Round Playoff Ratings in 12 Years on MSG and MSG Plus

Rangers-Capitals Game Seven Garners Highest Rating in 12 Years
Devils-Hurricanes Game Seven Garners Highest Rating in Eight Years

New York, NY, April 29, 2009 – New York area hockey fans tuned-in in strong numbers for the first round of the 2009 NHL playoffs on MSG and MSG Plus to watch the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils battle through seven games with the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes respectively. The Rangers and Devils both garnered their highest rated first round playoff series in 12 years, with the Rangers averaging a 2.50 HH RTG (185,846 households) on MSG and the Devils finishing with a 1.36 HH RTG (101,100 households) average on MSG Plus. The Rangers and Devils both notched a double-digit increase over their first round matchup last year, and scored strong in key demos with M25-54 averaging a 2.69 RTG for the Rangers and 1.27 RTG for the Devils.

Fans that watched last night's action packed game sevens helped both the Rangers and Devils score their highest ratings of the first round. The Rangers – Capitals game on MSG delivered a 3.02 HH RTG (225,000 households), besting game four to be the top rated Rangers telecast on the network since April 22, 1997 when the Rangers played the Florida Panthers in the first round of the NHL playoffs (3.04 HH RTG). The game peaked with a quarter hour high of 4.42 HH RTG (328,575 households) from 9:15 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. The Devils – Hurricanes game last night on MSG Plus garnered a 1.64 HH RTG (121,915 households), tying game three to the be the highest rated Devils game since May 5, 2001when the Devils took on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the conference semifinals (1.74 HH RTG).

MSG and MSG Plus will continue to cover the 2009 NHL Playoffs through to the crowning of the Stanley Cup on the weekly comprehensive hockey show "Hockey Night Live presented by Blimpie," which airs live every Saturday night at 10:00 p.m.

New York Rangers hockey on MSG is produced by Joe Whelan and directed by Bob Lewis. New Jersey Devils hockey on MSG Plus is produced by Roland Dratch and directed by Tom Meberg, with Bob Depoto serving as senior coordinating producer. Lydia Murphy-Stephans serves as executive vice president of programming and production for MSG Networks, and Jeff Filippi is vice president of production.