Hawks give NBC a big boost

Who says the Blackhawks aren't must-see TV?

Not the folks in the Chicago area, that's for sure.

One of every three TVs that were turned on in the Chicago area Sunday were tuned to the Western Conference Final between the Hawks and the San Jose Sharks on NBC, which the Hawks won 4-2 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The series clincher did a 14.1 rating (500,000 homes) in the Chicago area, and peaked with a 20.37 rating (773,000) at about 4:45 p.m. It averaged a 32 share, meaning one of every three sets were tuned to the game.

Overall, the ratings were about 33 percent higher than when the Hawks lost to Detroit in the conference final.