Winter Classic draws 4.5 million viewers

The NHL Winter Classic, broadcast in prime time for the first time Saturday, averaged 4.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched regular-season NHL game in 36 years, according to NBC and Nielsen Media Research. (A Flyers-Rangers game in 1975 drew 5.4 million.)

The game, delayed from 1 to 8 p.m. by warm, rainy weather in Pittsburgh, joined the three previous Classics among the five most-watched NHL games since '75. In Pittsburgh, 46 percent of the televisions in use that night were tuned into the hockey game.