2012 NHL All-Star Game Sets More Viewership Records

After TSN’s impressive 1.34 million rating for the All-Star Fantasy Draft on Thursday, CBC set records for its broadcasts of the All-Star Skills Competition and the NHL All-Star Game this weekend. An average of 2.468 tuned into the Skills Competition on Saturday night, while an average of 2.461 tuned into the All-Star Game on Sunday afternoon. These are the highest recorded ratings ever for these events on CBC. Sunday’s game compares favourably to first Winnipeg Jets game in October; an average of 1.83 million watched that game in a similar timeslot. Here is CBC’s press release.

Record-setting audiences tuned in to this weekend’s 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game and Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition on CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA, according to BBM overnight data.

Broadcast live from Ottawa on Sunday, January 29, the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All Star Game on CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA drew an average audience of 2.461 million viewers, besting the previous record of 2.389 million viewers set last year. In total, more than 7.3 million people took in some or all of the game, representing 22 per cent of the population.

The Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Competition broadcast on Saturday, January 28 also set a new record, drawing an audience of 2.468 million. More than 6.9 million people, or one in five Canadians, saw at least part of the competition.

This marks the highest rating for an NHL All-Star Game and the Skills Competition on CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA since metered audience measurement began in 1989-90.

Hockey Night in Canada Game Day garnered its largest audience to date and 760,000 viewers tuned in to Scotiabank Hockey Tonight.

“The numbers make it clear the NHL All-Star Weekend on CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA continues to be a must-see event for Canadian hockey fans,” said Julie Bristow, executive director, Studio and Unscripted Programming, English Services, CBC. “To see record audiences tuning in year after year exemplifies our dedication to producing the best in Canadian sports programming and to increase the game’s fan base in partnership with the NHL.”

Overall, 10.2 million Canadians tuned-in to some part of CBC’s coverage of the NHL All-Star Weekend, representing roughly 30 per cent of the population.

Note the part of the release that I have bolded. CBC doesn’t mention exactly how many people tuned into Game Day to make it the most watched broadcast of the season. This leads me to believe that Game Day isn’t doing well in the ratings. If Saturday’s broadcast had even respectable ratings, CBC would have mentioned it.