Super Bowl XLIX Sets New Ratings Record In Canada

Sunday night’s down-to-the-wire Super Bowl that saw the New England Patriots defeat the Seattle Seahawks crushed the previous Super Bowl ratings record for CTV and RDS.

An average of 9.2 millions Canadians watched Super Bowl 49 on CTV and RDS according to Numeris overnight data. RDS set a new record with 1 million viewers while CTV attracted 8.2 million sets of eyeballs. The previous highest-watched game was Super Bowl XLVI with 8.18 million viewers – a staggering 13% increase over the Giants-Patriots game played that year and a 16% increase over last year’s 7.94 million viewers.

19.3 million people (or 55% of the country) watched part of the game last night across either network and 12.2 million tuned in for Katy Perry’s halftime show – 23% more than last year.

I paid little attention to the commercials, though I can only presume CTV ran promos for their shows every second advertisement along with the same three commercials for “Canadian” companies.

CTV bailed on the trophy presentation and post-game as soon as possible after the game finished to show the season premier of Masterchef Canada and directed viewers to TSN, though I’m sure most jumped to NBC on their dial instead. Interestingly, Global, scheduled to show the season premier of The Blacklist along with NBC, ran the program as scheduled at 10:15pm, foregoing their precious simsub and not wanting to fill airtime waiting for NBC to wrap up their coverage.

Top 5 Super Bowl audiences on Canadian television

1. SUPER BOWL XLIX in 2015 – Patriots 28-Seahawks 24 – 9.2 million (CTV 8.2m, RDS 1m)
2. SUPER BOWL XLVI in 2012 – Giants 21-Patriots 17 – 8.1 million (CTV 7.3m, RDS 865k)
3. SUPER BOWL XLVIII in 2014 – Seahawks 43-Broncos 8 – 7.9 million (CTV 7.3m, RDS 610k)
4. SUPER BOWL XLVII in 2013 – Ravens 34-49ers 31 – 7.38 million
5. SUPER BOWL XLV in 2011 – Packers 31-Steelers 25 – 7.29 million

Better Late Than Never: 2014–15 Holiday Ratings

The holiday season has come and gone for another year, so it’s time to take a look at what Canadians have watched over the Christmas break. All the usual sports were there: hockey (NHL and World Juniors), the final weeks and playoffs of the NFL, college football bowl games and the new championship playoff format, and hints of basketball, soccer and UFC.

IIHF World Juniors

In news that will shock nobody, the 2015 installment of the World Juniors from Toronto and Montreal was ratings gold for hockey-starved TSN. The gold medal game was watched by a record-breaking 7.1 million Canadians on TSN (6m) and RDS (1.13m), making it the most-watched broadcast ever on specialty (aka, cable) television — the previous record was the 2011 World Juniors gold medal game of Canada versus Russia (6.1m). 13.4 million viewers tuned in to watch some part of the game with a peak of 9.7 million in the final minute of the match. Each of Team Canada’s games during the tournament was the most-watched broadcast of that day on any network with an average of 3.8 million viewers per game. Their semifinal was the second-most watched game of the tournament with 4.5 million viewers (TSN 3.9m, RDS 617k). Average viewership was up 11% on the last time the tournament was held in Canada.

NHL

Probably not the happiest holiday season at the Rogers compound. The New Year’s Day Winter Classic on CBC hit a five-year low (1.07m) and recorded the lowest ratings ever in the US. The December 27 edition of Hockey Night in Canada recorded its lowest number of the season with only 899,000 viewers. This was due to a combination of Canada playing in the World Juniors and neither the big draws of Toronto or Montreal playing at all that night. Probably of greatest worry is the new Sunday night Hometown Hockey games. Only two games over the holiday period got over the half-million mark and those featured powerhouses Toronto and Vancouver. Over the past three weeks, HH has been outrated by the Raptors, English Premier League, UFC and curling.

NFL

Bell Media (CTV and TSN) touted that this season of NFL ratings were up on last year. In particular, Bell says the Sunday late afternoon games were up 86% over last year. Of course, last year City TV had these games and they have a considerably smaller viewing range than CTV.  The divisional weekend had an average audience of 1.4 million over the four games, up 11% over last year. The NFC Conference Championship between Green Bay and Seattle received 2.34 million viewers on CTV making it the most-watched conference championship game ever, with a peak of 3.7 million when the game went into overtime. The AFC game later that night between New England and Indianapolis had way fewer viewers with 1.9 million.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

The NCAA bowl games never have really registered in the ratings in previous years. With the new playoff format this season, the semifinals and final did some decent numbers. The semifinals on TSN got 702k for the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl 534k. Weirdly, the final between Ohio State and Oregon only got 460k viewers, but still cracked the top ten in a slow week.

MISCELLANEOUS

The ratings of the non-Canada games from the World Juniors prove Canadians seem to love their international hockey; the Raptors continue to maintain an improved audience over last year, though general NBA games still get low numbers as none of TSN’s Christmas Day games featured in weekly top 20; and the four EPL Boxing Day games on TSN saw no real change in numbers from previous weeks.

Ratings: World Series Game 1 and NHL Week 2 Numbers Down for Sportsnet

In a game that was basically over by the fourth inning, it is no surprise that overnight ratings showed fewer viewers watched this year’s World Series Game 1 than last year. 461,000 Canadians viewed the San Francisco Giants destroy the Kansas City Royals on Sportsnet, down from 556,000 for last year’s Game 1 of Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. In the case of both numbers, it doesn’t take into account the amount of people watching on Fox. Sportsnet in years past has used the MLB International feed, but as a commenter pointed out, Sportsnet switched to the Fox feed an hour or so into Tuesday night’s game. Either someone realized the world feed is a seriously inferior production compared to Fox, or more likely, they switched to Fox so they could $im$ub the signal for Rogers customers. In the US, 12.19 million viewers tuned in, a record-low for Game 1 in a World Series and fifth lowest of all time.

Also not good news for Rogers after the second week of the NHL season. As Chris Zelkovich notes, Hockey Night In Canada’s numbers are lower this season than last year. This past Saturday night, 2.2 million viewers watched up to five early HNIC games, which is on-par with the opening weekend number of 2.23 million, while only 885,000 saw the late game of Tampa-Vancouver versus the two late games last week of Edmonton-Vancouver and San Jose-Winnipeg (1.310 million). Even the HNIC pre-game was down nearly 100k viewers. Sunday’s Hometown Hockey broadcast on City this was down significantly down from last week (407,000 versus 1,007,000) but that can be attributed to the Leafs playing on last week’s broadcast. Granted, it is only early days.

For TSN, the CFL features mostly in the top ten each week but numbers are actually below last season’s average. I don’t watch CFL at all, so I can’t speak as to whether games over the past few weeks (or even the season in general) have made for good viewing or not. The NFL is doing as well as always and beating most of the competition. As usual, EPL, MLS and auto racing sneak into the bottom of each list. In what has been a terrible year for Toronto FC, 20,000 more people elected to watch gymnastics on the CBC than Saturday afternoon’s game — it could have been a lot worse if not for Montreal Impact fans watching the game also.

RATINGS WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 12

1. NHL, Pens-Leafs/Habs-Flyers/Sens-Lightning/Flames-Blues/Caps-Bruins, Saturday, Rogers: 2,230,000
2. NHL, Oilers-Canucks/Sharks-Jets, Saturday, Rogers: 1,310,000
3. NHL, Leafs at Rangers, Sunday, City: 1,007,000
4. NFL, Cowboys at Seahawks, Sunday, CTV: 921,000 (US viewers not counted)
5. CFL, Bombers at Eskimos, Monday, TSN: 843,000
6. CFL, Roughriders at Alouettes, Monday, TSN: 782,000
7. CFL, Ticats at Argonauts, Friday, TSN: 636,000
8. NFL, Pats-Bills/Packers-Dolphins/Lions-Vikes, Sunday, CTV: 606,000 (US viewers not counted)
9. NHL, Hockey Night In Canada pre-game, Saturday, CBC: 545,000
10. MLB, Royals at Orioles, Friday, Sportsnet: 503,000
11. NFL, 49ers at Rams, Monday, TSN: 482,000
12. MLB, Royals at Orioles, Saturday, Sportsnet: 466,000
13. CFL, RedBlacks at Lions, Saturday, TSN: 424,000
14. NFL, Giants at Eagles, Sunday, TSN: 370,000 (US viewers not counted)
15. MLB, Giants at Cardinals, Sunday, Sportsnet: 370,000
16. MLB, Giants at Cardinals, Saturday, Sportsnet: 304,000 (US viewers not counted)
17. NFL, Bronocs at Jets, Sunday, TSN: 294,000
18. NHL, Rogers Hometown Hockey, Sunday, City: 262,000
19. NFL, Bears at Falcons, Sunday, TSN: 196,000
20. MLS, Whitecaps at Sounders, Saturday, TSN: 180,000
21. Auto racing, NASCAR Bank of America 500, Sunday, TSN2: 161,000
22. Auto racing, F1 Russian Grand Prix, Sunday, TSN: 110,000

RATINGS WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 19

1. NHL, Leafs-Wings/Avs-Habs/Jackets-Sens/Bruins-Sabres, Saturday, Rogers: 2,200,000
2. NFL, Vikes-Bills/Panthers-Packers/Seahawks-Rams/Bengals-Colts, Sunday, CTV: 893,000 (US viewers not counted)
3. NFL. Giants-Cowboys/Chiefs-Chargers, Sunday, CTV: 873,000 (US viewers not counted)
4. NHL, Lightning at Canucks, Saturday, CBC: 885,000
5. CFL, Eskimos at Riders, Sunday, TSN: 732,000
6. NHL, Red Wings at Maple Leafs, Friday, Sportsnet Ontario: 723,000
7. CFL, Alouettes at Argos, Saturday, TSN: 591,000
8. CFL, Stamps at Bombers, Saturday, TSN: 565,000
9. NFL, 49ers at Broncos, Sunday, TSN: 492,000 (US viewers not counted)
10. NHL, Hockey Night In Canada pre-game, Saturday, CBC: 478,000
11. NHL, Canucks at Oilers, Friday, Sportsnet West/Pacific: 461,000
12. CFL, RedBlacks at Ticats, Friday, TSN: 413.000
13. NHL, Flames at Oilers, Sunday, City: 407,000
14. Auto racing, NASCAR Geico 500, Sunday, TSN: 380,000
15. NHL, Hometown Hockey pre-game, Sunday, City: 156,000
16. Gymnastics, World artistic championships, Saturday, CBC: 126,000
17. MLS, Impact at Toronto FC, Saturday, TSN: 107,000
18. Soccer, Tottenham at Manchester City, Saturday, TSN: 98,000
19. Soccer, EPL late games, Saturday, TSN: 97,000

Holiday Ratings Update 2013-14

Hope everyone had a good Christmas. It is a busy time of year for sports, with the World Juniors, Winter Classic and Wild Card NFL playoffs. Here is a quick recap of the ratings over the past week.

TSN once again boasted about record ratings for a World Junior tournament taking place in Europe. For Canada’s four preliminary round games, an average of 1.4 million viewers watched. The game-by-game breakdown was: Canada vs. Czech Republic, 1.75 million; Canada vs. USA, 1.74 million; Canada-Slovakia, 1.2 million; Canada-Germany, 755 000. The Boxing Day game was audience almost doubled over last year. The Canada-USA game was the most viewed program in Canada on New Year’s Eve, while the game against the Czech Republic was the highest ever for a group stage game played in Europe.

Due to new tournament rules, the first place team in each group now has to play a quarterfinal, instead of receiving a bye into the semis. As a result TSN aired an extra Canada game, with 1.6 million viewers tuning into the quartefinal vs. Switzerland. In other quarterfinal action an average of 752 000 watched the host Swedes play Slovakia. Despite Canada not playing a very close game in a semifinal loss to Finland, an average of 2.7 million viewers tuned in. This set a record as the most watched World Junior game at any European-hosted tournament. However, with the Canada loss, the numbers for Sunday’s medal games tumbled. An average of 1 million watched the final between Sweden and Finland.

While all of TSN’s World Junior records were asterisked with “among European-hosted tournaments”, the 2014 Winter Classic from The Big House set a record on TV. It is not only the highest attended hockey game in history, but also the most watched regular season game in Canada on record. An average of 3.57 million watched CBC’s four-hour broadcast as the Leafs defeated the Red Wings in a shootout. That almost doubled the previous high for a Winter Classic, when Pittsburgh and Washington played each other on a Saturday night in 2011. The previous high for a regular season game in Canada was last January’s season opener between Toronto and Montreal. The audience peaked at 5.3 million during the shootout.

Lastly, here are the numbers for CTV’s coverage of the NFL Wild Card playoffs over the weekend. On Saturday 997 000 watched Kansas City-Indianapolis and 1.1 million watched New Orleans-Philadelphia. On Sunday 869 000 watched San Diego-Kansas City and 1.6 million watched San Francisco-Green Bay. The average of the four games was 1.1 million. Those ratings are down as a whole compared to last season, when the average was 1.2 million. The AFC games were both down compared to last year, while the NFC games were about even. For those wondering about a comparison of Sunday’s NFL games and November’s CFL Division Semis, the CFL beat the NFL averaging 1.5 million.

November Ratings Roundup

Originally hoping to post ratings every two weeks, life got in the way, so why not a monthly listing? Fantabulous, you say? Then read on.

Summary: Saturday night Leafs beat out both CFL semi-finals by 400–600k; Raptors draw terrible numbers; everything else is mostly standard.

Wed 06 — NBA — Raptors at Bobcats, Sportsnet, 155,000
Fri 08 — NHL — Leafs at Devils, TSN, 1,390,000
Fri 08 — NHL — Habs at Senators, CBC, 732,000
Sat 09 — NHL — Leafs at Bruins, CBC, 2,059,000
Sat 09 — NHL — Canucks at Kings, CBC, 954,000
Sat 09 — Curling — Men’s Road to the Roar, TSN, 344,000
Sat 09 — Soccer — Manchester United vs. Arsenal, Sportsnet, 265,000
Sat 09 — Figure Skating — ISU Grand Prix, CBC, 239,000
Sat 09 — Curling — Women’s Road to the Roar, TSN, 239,000
Sun 10 — CFL — BC at Saskatchewan, TSN, 1,621,000
Sun 10 — CFL — Montreal at Hamilton, TSN, 1,450,000
Sun 10 — NFL — Bills-Steelers / Raiders-Giants / Bengals-Ravens / Seahawks-Falcons, CTV, 490,000 (*CBS/Fox)
Sun 10 — NFL — Cowboys at Saints, TSN, 402,000 (*NBC)
Sun 10 — NFL — Broncos at Chargers, City, 344,000 (*CBS)
Sun 10 — NHL — Canucks at Ducks, Sportsnet Pacific, 299,000
Sun 10 — Nascar — Sprint Cup, TSN2, 285,000
Sun 10 — Curling — Men’s Road to the Roar, TSN, 273,000

Summary: CBC’s Saturday night 7pm games beat the CFL eastern final by 188k but lost top spot to the CFL western final by a minute 12,000 viewers; a lot of curling this weekend that did well both days; Monday night NFL makes a rare appearance in the top 10; Raptors draw even worse numbers.

Mon 11 — NBA — Raptors at Rockets, Sportsnet, 187,000
Wed 13 — NBA — Raptors at Grizzlies, Sportsnet, 127,000
Thu 14 — NFL — Colts at Titans, Sportsnet, 364,000
Fri 15 — NHL — Leafs at Sabres, Sportsnet Ontario, 695,000
Fri 15 — NHL — Sharks at Oilers, TSN, 373,000
Fri 15 — Curling — Grand Slam Round Robin, Sportsnet, 204,000
Fri 15 — NBA — Bulls at Raptors — TSN, 73,000
Sat 16 — NHL — Sabres-Leafs / Rangers-Habs, CBC, 1,888,000
Sat 16 — NHL — Oilers at Flames, CBC, 947,000
Sat 16 — Figure Skating — ISU Grand Prix, CBC, 391,000
Sat 16 — Curling — Grand Slam Qtr-Final, CBC, 384,000
Sat 16 — Curling — Grand Slam Semi-Final, Sportsnet, 288,000
Sat 16 — Curling — Grand Slam Qtr-Final, Sportsnet, 277,000
Sat 16 — UFC — UFC 167 Prelims, Sportsnet 360, 222,000
Sun 17 — CFL — Saskatchewan at Calgary, TSN, 1,900,000
Sun 17 — CFL — Hamilton at Toronto, TSN, 1,700,000
Sun 17 — NFL — Chiefs at Broncos, TSN, 579,000 (*NBC)
Sun 17 — NFL — Jets-Bills / Redskins-Eagles, CTV, 399,000 (*CBS/Fox)
Sun 17 — Curling — Grand Slam Final, CBC, 353,000
Sun 17 — NFL — Packers-Giants / 49ers-Saints, Sportsnet, 162,000 (*Fox)
Sun 17 — NFL — 49ers at Saints, City, 271,000 (*Fox)
Sun 17 — NBA — Trail Blazers at Raptors, Sportsnet, 90,000
Mon 18 — NFL — Patriots at Panthers, TSN, 579,000

Summary: The Grey Cup obviously destroyed all competition by more than double, becoming the fourth-highest rated Grey Cup and the most watched sporting event of the year, but that said, it could’ve been a lot more if it was a more competitive game and was well down on last years number of 5.4 million; the Vanier Cup gave Sportsnet it’s biggest CIS audience of the year; the final Formula 1 race of the season sneaked in with just under 200k on a Sunday morning and would’ve been higher if NBC was included.

Thu 21 — NFL — Saints at Falcons, Sportsnet, 383,000
Fri 22 — NHL — Blue Jackets at Canucks, Sportsnet Pacific, 363,000
Sat 23 — NHL — Capitals-Leafs / Penguins-Canadiens / Senators-Red Wings, CBC, 2,321,000
Sat 23 — NHL — Blackhawks at Canucks, CBC, 1,123,000
Sat 23 — Figure Skating — ISU Men’s Grand Prix, CBC, 337,000
Sat 23 — CIS —Vanier Cup, Calgary vs. Laval, Sportsnet 360, 301,000
Sat 23 — Figure Skating — ISU Women’s Grand Prix, CBC, 237,000
Sun 24 — CFL — Grey Cup, Hamilton vs. Saskatchewan, TSN, 4,495,000
Sun 24 — NFL — Chargers-Chiefs / Panthers-Dolphins/ Vikings-Packers / Jets-Ravens, CTV, 643,000 (*CBS/Fox)
Sun 24 — CFL — Grey Cup Pre-Game, TSN, 487,000
Sun 24 — NFL — Broncos at Patriots, TSN2, 353,000 (*NBC)
Sun 24 — NFL — Cowboys at Giants, City, 326,000 (*Fox)
Sun 24 — Formula 1 — Brazilian Grand Prix, TSN, 198,000 (*NBC)

Summary: Even with Will Ferrell Ron Burgundy making a guest appearance, TSN”s curling on Sunday couldn’t beat out Saturday night hockey, and surprisingly, a rare Sunday evening hockey game on TSN (I guess this is why Rogers want NHL on Sunday nights); Sunday curling peaked at 900k when the Anchorman 2 star was on-screen and managed to stay around 600k and beat all NFL; The US Thanksgiving night game was the highest NFL game of the week; and strangely, the UFC prelim fights beat the main show by 12,000.

Thu 28 — NFL — Raiders at Cowboys, City, 473,000 (*CBS)
Thu 28 — NFL — Steelers at Ravens, Sportsnet, 324,000 (*NBC)
Thu 28 — NFL — Packers at Lions, City, 230,000  (*Fox)
Fri 29 — NHL — Rangers at Bruins, TSN, 202,000
Fri 29 — NBA — Raptors at Heat, TSN, 157,000
Sat 30 — NHL — Leafs at Habs, CBC, 2,070,000
Sat 30 —  NHL — Flames at Kings, CBC, 751,000
Sat 30 — Sports Day in Canada, CBC, 167,000
Sat 30 — Bobsleigh — World Cup, CBC, 150,000
Sat 30 — UFC — Prelims, Sportsnet, 138,000
Sat 30 — Alpine Skiing — World Cup, CBC, 137,000
Sat 30 — UFC — Main Card, Sportsnet, 126,000
Sun 01 — NHL — Red Wings at Senators, TSN, 662,000
Sun 01 — Curling — Olympic Trials, TSN, 632,000
Sun 01 — NFL — Patriots-Texans / Bears-Vikings / Dolphins-Jets / Cardinals-Eagles, CTV, 478,000 (*Fox/CBS)
Sun 01 — NFL — Broncos at Chiefs, City, 473,000 (*CBS)
Sun 01 — NFL — Giants at Redskins, TSN, 375,000 (*NBC)
Sun 01 — NFL — Falcons vs. Bills, Sportsnet, 253,000 (*Fox)
Sun 01 — NHL — Canucks at Hurricanes, Sportsnet Pacific, 234,000
Sun 01 — NBA — Nuggets at Raptors, Sportsnet, 102,000

All ratings courtesy of Chris Zelkovich and Whitey Fisk.

You Like Ratings? We Have Ratings!

CFL vs. NFL: Ahh, the age-old debate over which form of hand egg football is more popular in Canada. Being from Toronto, I go to any bar on a Sunday and see every TV plastered with NFL games, yet rarely see similar on a Friday or Saturday for the CFL. In Saskatchewan or Alberta, I’ve been told that the CFL trumps all sports when it comes to viewing in bars. When it comes to ratings, both go neck and neck for top spot, and it seems to matter greatly on what two teams are playing as to the number of viewers. And as always, we must keep in mind that all those TV’s tuned into American networks aren’t counted towards the number. (One of the many flaws in the Canadian ratings system, but I digress.)

Fri Oct 11: BC at Calgary — 659,000 TSN
Sat Oct 12: Edmonton at Saskatchewan — 778,000 TSN
Sun Oct 13: Packers at Ravens / Bengals at Bills / Steelers at Jets — 712,000 CTV (*CBS, Fox)
Sun Oct 13: Saints at Patriots / Cardinals at 49ers — 292,000 Sportsnet (*Fox, CBS)
Sun Oct 13: Redskins at Cowboys — 455,000 TSN (*NBC)
Mon Oct 14: Toronto at Hamilton — 956,000 TSN
Mon Oct 14: Winnipeg at Montreal — 686,000 TSN
Mon Oct 14: Colts at Chargers — 545,000 TSN

Fri Oct 18: Calgary at Edmonton — 631,000 TSN
Sat Oct 19: BC at Saskatchewan — 863,000 TSN
Sat Oct 19: Toronto at Winnipeg — 650,000 TSN
Sun Oct 20: Bills at Dolphins / Patriots at Jets / Cowboys at Eagles — 710,000 CTV (*CBS, Fox)
Sun Oct 20: Broncos at Colts — 725,000 TSN (*NBC)
Sun Oct 20: Hamilton at Montreal — 473,000 TSN
Sun Oct 20: Texans at Chiefs / Ravens at Steelers — 227,000 Sportsnet (*CBS)

Thu Oct 24: Winnipeg at Toronto — 517,000 TSN
Thu Oct 24: Panthers at Buccaneers — 105,000 Sportsnet 360
Fri Oct 25: Edmonton at BC — 604,000 TSN
Sat Oct 26: Saskatchewan at Calgary — 771,000 TSN
Sat Oct 26: Montreal at Hamilton — 451,000 TSN
Sun Oct 27: Dolphins at Patriots / Cowboys at Lions / Bills at Saints — 809,000 CTV (*Fox, CBS)
Sun Oct 27: Jets at Bengals / Redskins at Broncos 151,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)
Sun Oct 27: Packers at Vikings — 411,000 TSN (*NBC)

Thu Oct 31: Bengals at Dolphins — 448,300 Sportsnet
Fri Nov 1: BC at Calgary — 543,000 TSN
Fri Nov 2: Montreal at Toronto — 487,000 TSN
Sat Nov 2: Edmonton at Saskatchewan — 613,000 TSN
Sat Nov 2: Hamilton at Winnipeg — 437,000 TSN
Sun Nov 3: Chiefs at BIlls / Vikings at Cowboys / Saints at Jets — 555,000 CTV (*Fox, CBS)
Sun Nov 3: Steelers at Patriots — 497,00 City (*CBS)
Sun Nov 3: Colts at Texans — 408,000 TSN (*NBC)

NHL: What is there really to say? Hockey Night in Canada destroys the competition week in, week out, whether that competition be other sports or big-time network programming. For the week ending October 27, HNIC finished at number four in the top programs watched by Canadians — the only sporting event in the top 30 and the only CBC program in the top 25, so you can see why CBC are so desperate to hang onto the television rights.

Sat Oct 12: Edmonton at Toronto — 2,258,000 CBC
Sat Oct 12: Montreal at Vancouver — 1,374,000 CBC
Sat Oct 19: Toronto at Chicago / Nashville at Montreal — 1,800,000 CBC
Sat Oct 19: Calgary at San Jose — 565,000 CBC
Sat Oct 26: Pittsburgh at Toronto / San Jose at Montreal / Winnipeg at Dallas — 2,108,000 CBC
Sat Oct 26: Washington at Calgary — 722,000 CBC
Sat Nov 2: Toronto at Vancouver — 2,376,000 CBC
Sat Nov 2: Montreal at Colorado / Detroit at Edmonton — 1,103,000 CBC
Sat Nov 2: Chicago at Winnipeg — 493,000 CBC

MLB: The Blue Jays ratings this year were the highest they have been in decades, — well, until they shit the bed — but unless “Canada’s team” is actually playing, most Canadians care not for baseball. The LCS numbers got better as each series went on, with the ALCS getting more eyeballs than the NLCS (usually without event taking into consideration the AL games were also on the unmeasurable Fox). Presumably that can be put down to two things: 1) Jays fans are more familiar with AL teams, and 2) Detroit & Boston both have big fan bases on this side of the border, especially in the far east of the country for the latter. Sportsnet had a 22% drop in World Series ratings this year compared to last, even though this season they ditched the forever terrible MLB International feed for the WS. Maybe more people prefer to watch on Fox and not see Greg Zaun? *raises hand*

Fri Oct 11: NLCS, Game 1 — 317,000 Sportsnet
Sat Oct 12: NLCS, Game 2 — 285,000 Sportsnet
Sat Oct 12: ALCS, Game 1 — 278,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)
Sun Oct 13: ALCS, Game 2 — 509,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)
Mon Oct 14: NLCS, Game 3 — 491,000 Sportsnet
Tue Oct 15: NLCS, Game 4 — 504,000 Sportsnet
Wed Oct 16: ALCS, Game 4 — 409,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)
Thu Oct 17: ALCS, Game 5 — 451,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)
Fri Oct 18: NLCS, Game 6 — 416,000 Sportsnet
Sat Oct 19: ALCS, Game 6 — 499,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)

Wed Oct 23: World Series, Game 1 — 556,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)
Thu Oct 24: World Series, Game 2 — 465,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)
Sat Oct 26: World Series, Game 3 — 496,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)
Sun Oct 27: World Series, Game 4 — 645,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)
Mon Oct 28: World Series, Game 5 — 726,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)
Wed Oct 30: World Series, Game 6 — 680,000 Sportsnet (*Fox)

NBA: Ummm…. What to say really. The NBA has always been a small draw in Canada. Granted the Raptors haven’t been good in years, but even big match-ups get minimal ratings. As an NBA fan, I’m just glad the networks still show a few non-Raps games per week despite the terrible numbers. And speaking of terrible, that first number you see below is for Toronto’s first game of the season. Granted, it was up against NHL and MLB, but wowzers. New MLSE boss Tim Leiweke certainly has his work cut out for him.

Wed Oct 30: Boston at Toronto — 54,000 TSN2
Fri Nov 1: Toronto at Atlanta — 71,000 Sportsnet One
Sat Nov 2: Toronto at Milwaukee — 215,000 TSN

The Rest (Soccer, Motor Sports, Figure Skating, Curling): If you told me NASCAR got nearly two-times the ratings that soccer did in Canada, I would laugh in your face. Alas, it’s certainly nobody that I know or any bar that I’ve ever been to, but somewhere in this vast land, droves of NASCAR fans are watching the sport every week. I don’t dislike NASCAR by any means, but NASCAR mostly getting bigger ratings than soccer, figure skating and curling truly surprises me.

Sat Oct 12: England vs. Montenegro — 167,000 Sportsnet
Sat Oct 27: Manchester United vs. Stoke — 201,000 TSN
Sat Nov 2: Arsenal vs. Liverpool — 224,000 Sportsnet

Sun Oct 20: NASCAR Sprint Cup — 297,000 TSN2
Sun Oct 27: NASCAR Sprint Cup — 362,000 TSN
Sun Oct 27: Formula 1, Indian GP — 165,000 TSN
Sun Nov 3: NASCAR Sprint Cup — 312,000 TSN
Sun Nov 3: Formula 1, Abu Dhabi GP — 213,000 TSN

Sat Oct 19: Skate America — 226,000 CBC
Fri Oct 25: Skate Canada — 228,000 TSN
Sat Oct 26: Skate Canada — 666,000 CTV

Sat Nov 2: Grand Slam of Curling, Men’s Quarter-Final — 214,000 CBC
Sat Nov 2: Grand Slam of Curing, Men’s Semi-Finals — 234,000 Sportsnet
Sun Nov 3: Grand Slam of Curling, Men’s Final — 402,000 CBC
Sun Nov 3: Grand Slam of Curling, Women’s Final — 213,000 Sportsnet

Numbers courtesy of Chris Zelkovich and Whitey Fisk.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Ratings Update #1

Here are the ratings for games on CBC, as well as the Canucks on TSN and Canadiens on RDS for the first six days of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Montreal vs. Ottawa (CBC/RDS)
Game 1, 5/2: 1.9 million (CBC) + 1.2 million (RDS) = 3.1 million
Game 2, 5/3: 1.8 million (CBC) + 1.2 million (RDS) = 3 million
Game 3, 5/5: 2.3 million (CBC) + 1.3 million (RDS) = 3.6 million

Boston vs. Toronto (CBC)
Game 1, 5/1: 2.6 million
Game 2, 5/4: 3.2 million

Vancouver vs. San Jose (TSN)
Game 1, 5/1: 1.25 million
Game 2, 5/3: 1.3 million
Game 3, 5/5: 1.1 million

St. Louis vs. Los Angeles (CBC)
Game 1, 4/30: 1.3 million*
Game 2, 5/2: 822, 000
Game 3, 5/4: 1.1 million

Chicago vs. Minnesota (CBC)
Game 1, 4/30: 1.3 million*
Game 2, 5/3: 687, 000
Game 3, 5/5: 502, 000

*These games were a split-national broadcast; the ratings are for the two games combined.
All numbers are BBM Canada AMA 2+

Based on this, it looks like CBC made the right decision to take the Montreal-Ottawa series instead of the Canucks. Not only is it getting better ratings, but even CBC’s third choice (STL-LA) put up comparable numbers for game 3. Its never good when a series trends downward on the weekend, as happened with the Canucks last night. To compare, last year the Canucks had a million more viewers for game 3 (on a Wednesday night) on CBC. In fact the Canucks’ ratings for games 1-3 were quite comparable to Habs-Sens this year. I know there is a difference between TSN and CBC, but come on, it isn’t worth 50% reduction in audience levels. The first three games from Flyers-Penguins on TSN last spring all had better ratings than the first three from Sharks-Canucks this year.

For comparison, here are the ratings for the first few days of the playoffs last year.

Canadian Sports Ratings Update: March 16, 2013

Lots of ratings to post this week. Enjoy everyone. All are BBM 2+ AMA.

NHL
TOR-BOS, Mar 7, TSN: 1.1 million
MTL-CAR, Mar 7, RDS: 752, 000
PIT-TOR, Mar 9, CBC: 2.021 million
MTL-TB, Mar 9, RDS: 748, 000
CGY-LA, Mar 9, CBC: 601, 000
MTL-FLA, Mar 10, RDS: 726, 000
EDM-CHI, Mar 10, SNW: 225, 000
VAN-MIN, Mar 10, SNP: 364, 000
OTT-MTL, Mar 13, TSN: 870, 000

The Brier
ON-MB, Mar 9, TSN: 832, 000
NL-NO, Mar 9, TSN: 728, 000
NO-ON, Mar 10, TSN: 754, 000
MB-NO, Mar 10, TSN: 918, 000

World Baseball Classic
CAN-MEX, Mar 9, SN: 333, 000
ITA-USA, Mar 9, SN: 111, 000
CAN-USA, Mar 10, SN: 526, 000

World Figure Skating
Men’s Short, Mar 13, CBC: 264, 000

NBA
CLE-TOR, Mar 10, SN1: 64, 000

Thanks to: Bill Brioux, Whitey Fisk, Bob Weeks

The one thing to note is Sunday’s ratings. Lots of things on and competing for eyeballs. None of them really did anything spectacular. The Brier was down under a million for the first time in a while, and it only got about a quarter of its viewers from the lucrative 25-54 age group. Hockey on RDS was relatively consistent, finishing second. One of the biggest games in Canadian baseball history only drew 70, 000 more viewers than a Jays spring training game a few weeks ago.

Canadian Sports Ratings Update: March 8, 2013

Here are the latest Canadian sports ratings. All numbers are BBM 2+ AMA.

NHL
TOR-OTT, Feb 23, CBC: 2.345 million
MTL-NYR, Feb 23, RDS: 737, 000
TOR-PHI, Feb 25, TSN: 949, 000
MTL-OTT, Feb 25, RDS: 623, 000
MTL-TOR, Feb 27, TSN: 1.533 million (+ 893, 000 on RDS)
MTL-PIT, Mar 2, CBC: 1.657 million (+ 890, 000 on RDS)
VAN-LA, Mar 2, CBC: 1.074 million
VAN-CGY, Mar 3, SNP: 398, 000
MTL-BOS, Mar 4, RDS: 677, 000
VAN-SJ, Mar 6, SNP: 505, 000
OTT-TOR, Mar 7, TSN: 1.376 million

The Brier
AB-MB, Mar 2, TSN: 671, 000
ON-MB, Mar 3, TSN: 596, 000
AB-NO, Mar 4, TSN: 497, 000

NBA
TOR-CLE, Feb 27, SN: 129, 000
PHI-CHI, Feb 28, TSN: 51, 000
IND-TOR, Mar 1, TSN: 175, 000

Thanks to: Bill Brioux, Whitey Fisk, Bob Weeks

For the Brier, it’s worth noting that, as of Tuesday, The AB-MB draw was the highest rated draw, while AB-NO (an afternoon draw) was the lowest.

Canadian Sports Ratings Update: February 25, 2013

Here are the latest sports ratings, including the Scotties and the first Jays game of the season. All numbers are BBM 2+ AMA.

Tournament of Hearts
ON-QC, Feb 19, TSN: 518, 000
ON-CAN, Feb 22, TSN: 596, 000
ON-MB, Feb 23, TSN: 822, 000
CAN-MB, Feb 24, TSN: 635, 000
BC-CAN, Feb 24, TSN2: 287, 000
ON-MB, Feb 24, TSN: 1.057 million

NHL
PIT-WPG, Feb 15, CBC: 772, 000
PHI-MTL, Feb 16, RDS: 912, 000
OTT-TOR, Feb 16, CBC: 2.248 million
VAN-CHI, Feb 19, SNP: 483, 000
LA-EDM, Feb 19, TSN: 506, 000

NASCAR
Daytona 500, Feb 24, TSN: 691, 000

MLB Spring Training
Jays Central, Feb 23, SN: 206, 000
TOR-DET, Feb 23, SN: 456, 000

NBA
LAL-BOS, Feb 7, TSN: 43, 000
CHI-DEN, Feb 7, TSN: 25, 000
LAC-TOR, Feb 8, TSN: 148, 000
TOR-NY, Feb 13, SN: 224, 000
MIA-OKC, Feb 14, TSN: 127, 000
Rookie Game, Feb 15, TSN: 64, 000
All-Star Game, Feb 17, TSN: 309, 000
MEM-TOR, Feb 20, SN: 164, 000

Thanks to: Jamie Campbell,  Bill Brioux, Whitey Fisk, Bob Weeks

Those baseball numbers are incredible for spring training. 450, 000 would be good for a regular season game against Detroit on a Saturday afternoon. But what’s most amazing, the repeat of 1993 World Series game on Sunday afternoon scored around 150, 000. And we all thought the 200, 000 range was crazy for 20-year old hockey broadcasts on the CBC last fall.

The Scotties ratings are about consistent with 2012, drawing around 50, 000 more viewers this year.B

Canadian Sports Ratings Update: February 12

Here are the latest sports ratings for the first third of February.

NFL
Kickoff Show, Feb 3, CTV: 3.196 million
SF-BAL, Feb 3, CTV: 6.447 million (+ 750, 000 on RDS)

Also worth noting that the postgame SportsCentre that aired on TSN, remember CTV didn’t really have a postgame show, averaged around a million viewers from 11pm-midnight on TSN. That is almost better than Motive, which had 1.23 million viewers on CTV.

NHL
MTL-OTT, Jan 30, RDS: 696, 000
BUF-MTL, Feb 2, RDS: 811, 000
BOS-TOR, Feb 2, CBC: 2.189 million
OTT-MTL, Feb 3, RDS: 1.052 million
CAR-TOR, Feb 4, SNO: 784, 000
BOS-MTL, Feb 6, RDS: 887, 000
WPG-OTT/EDM-DET, Feb 9, CBC: 1.054 million
TOR-MTL, Feb 9, CBC: 2.408 million
CGY-VAN, Feb 9, CBC: 1.473 million

NBA
MEM-OKC, Jan 31, TSN: 76, 000
DAL-GS, Jan 31, TSN: 26, 000
LAC-TOR, Feb 1, TSN: 309, 000
BOS-TOR, Feb 6, SN: 141, 000

All numbers are BBM 2+ average minute audiences. Thanks to Bill Brioux and Whitey Fisk.

HNIC ratings have evened out after their above-average start. The Winnipeg-Ottawa game was down close to half a million viewers compared to their encounter on opening day. Toronto-Montreal was down almost a million. After a dip to under 2 million viewers on January 26, the Prime East game has now hit the 2 million mark three times in the first four weeks of the season. The Prime West game has also drawn at least a million viewers all but once.

But, as I said, audiences have leveled out. This year’s average Hockey Day ratings for the three games are even with last season’s numbers at 1.6 million. So, in English Canada at least, the post-lockout fad has gone back to the usual ratings. No word yet on how the rest of the CBC’s daylong celebration of hockey did.

Meanwhile a revitalized Canadiens team is great news for RDS in Quebec. Canadiens ratings are surging giving RDS multiple spots in the Quebec top 30 every week so far. Through February 6 (or 8 games), the Canadiens are averaging over 900, 000 viewers on RDS. Montreal’s numbers in Quebec (on RDS) are better than the Leafs in Ontario (on Sportsnet) so far. Of course Sportsnet has shown a very limited number of Leafs games so far.

Canadian Sports Ratings Update: January 31

Some more impressive NHL numbers. Here are the latest ratings. Thanks to Whitey Fisk for the hoops and NFL and curling numbers.

NHL
MTL-WSH, Jan 24, RDS: 766, 000
TOR-NYR, Jan 26, CBC: 1.87 million
EDM-CGY, Jan 26, CBC: 1.09 million
PIT-OTT, Jan 27, SNE: 441, 000
NJ-MTL, Jan 27, RDS: 896, 000
WPG-MTL, Jan 29, RDS: 808, 000

NBA
TOR-ORL, Jan 24, TSN: 134, 000
CLE-TOR, Jan 26, TSN: 212, 000
GS-TOR, Jan 28, TSN: 185, 000

NFL
Pro Bowl, Jan 27, TSN: 204, 000

Curling The National
Semi Final, Jan 26, SN: 313, 000

Sports Ratings Update: January 27, 2013

Lots of ratings have come out over the past few week, so here they are all in one place. Sources listed at the bottom. Any not sourced means they came directly from the network.

NHL
Season Preview, Jan 17, TSN: 235, 000
Season Preview, Jan 17, SN: 105, 000
OTT-WPG, Jan 19, CBC: 1.493 million
TOR-MTL, Jan 19, CBC: 3.317 million (+ 1.286 on RDS)
ANA-VAN, Jan 19, CBC: 1.471 million
CGY-SJ, Jan 20, SNW: 296, 000
VAN-EDM, Jan 20, SN W/P: 1.008 million
CHI-PHX, Jan 20, TSN: 219, 000
BUF-TOR, Jan 21, SNO: 1.069 million
FLA-OTT, Jan 21, SNE: 308, 000
DET-CLB, Jan 21, TSN: 286, 000
CGY-ANA, Jan 21, SNW: 206, 000
FLA-MTL, Jan 22, RDS: 809, 000
WPG-WSH, Jan 22, TSN: 585, 000
SJ-EDM, Jan 22, TSN: 610, 000
TOR-PIT, Jan 23, TSN: 1.4 million

NFL
BAL-DEN, Jan 12, CTV: 1.475 million (+ 184, 000 on RDS)
GB-SF, Jan 12, CTV: 1.443 million (+ 158, 000 on RDS)
SEA-ATL, Jan 13, CTV: 1.531 million (+ 221, 000 on RDS)
HOU-NE, Jan 13, TSN: 826, 000 (+ 214, 000 on RDS)
SF-ATL, Jan 20, CTV: 1.838 million (+ 296, 000 on RDS)
BAL-NE, Jan 20, CTV: 1.985 million (+ 214, 000 on RDS)

Canadian Figure Skating Championships
Fri Jan 18, Women’s & Pairs Short (3-5pm), TSN: 99,000
Fri Jan 18, Men’s Short (8-10pm), TSN: 306,000
Sat Jan 19 (2-4pm), CTV: 362,000
Sat Jan 19, Men’s & Pairs Free (5-7m), TSN: 196,000
Sat Jan 19 (7-10pm), CTV: 686,000
Sun Jan 20, Women’s & Dance Free (2-4pm), TSN: 363,000

Curling Continental Cup
Mixed Doubles, Jan 12, TSN: 325, 000
Women’s Team, Jan 12, TSN: 421, 000
Men’s Team, Jan 12, TSN: 415, 000
Mixed Skins, Jan 13, TSN2: 222, 000
Mixed Skins, Jan 13, TSN: 495, 000

 

 

 

 

Curling Skins Game
Semi Final #1, Jan 19, TSN: 330, 000
Semi Final #2, Jan 19, TSN: 308, 000
Championship, Jan 20, TSN: 403, 000

 

NBA
CHA-TOR, Jan 11, TSN: 251, 000
OKC-POR, Jan 13, SN: 28, 000
MIA-UTA, Jan 14, SN: 51, 000
TOR-BRK, Jan 15, SN: 137, 000

All data is AMA 2+ from BBM Canada.

*The English-language CTV ratings for these games is not available.

Thanks to: Bill Brioux, Whitey Fisk, Bob Weeks

NHL Returns to Big Ratings

It’s hardly surprising that the first Saturday of the delayed NHL regular season attracted higher than usual ratings for the CBC. Regardless of how many fans say they are pissed off at the NHL and will never watch again, there are ten others who will watch every bit as much as before. What is a bit surprising though, is just how big the ratings were. The matinee, Ottawa @ Winnipeg, had an average audience of 1.493 million viewers. Not only is that a record for an afternoon regular season game, but it is the first non-Hockey Day in Canada matinee to hit a million viewers.

CBC also set a record in primetime, with an average of 3.317 million Canadians tuning into the Maple Leafs @ Canadiens game. An additional 1.3 million watched on RDS, bringing the total average audience above 4 million viewers. The “Prime West” game on CBC, which surely struggled to keep the interest of Canucks fans, 1.471 million viewers. That is the highest rated late game since Hockey Day in Canada last season.

Canadian Sports Ratings Update: January 12, 2012

Here are the ratings for the past week. Lots of interesting numbers, including the BCS Championship Game. What is possibly most interesting is TSN didn’t issue a press release with World Junior medal round ratings. They must have really fizzled after Canada lost to the US in the semis.

NFL
CIN-HOU, Jan 5, CTV: 1.1 million
MIN-GB, Jan 5, CTV: 1.06 million
IND-BAL, Jan 5, CTV: 1.153 million
SEA-WSH, Jan 5, CTV: 1.525 million

NCAA FB
N. ILL-FSU, Jan 1, TSN: 218, 000
ALA-ND, Jan 7, TSN: 519, 000

NBA
POR-TOR, Jan 2, TSN: 228, 000
SAC-TOR, Jan 4, TSN: 209, 000
BOS-ATL, Jan 5, SN: 49, 000
BOS-NY, Jan 7, SN: 51, 000
TOR-PHI, Jan 9, SN: 163, 000

A few interesting notes about the NFL rankings. Minnesota-Green Bay couldn’t even hold the entire Cincinnati-Houston audience even though it followed in primetime with no competition really. Saturday ratings are up from last year though. Cincinnati-Houston, in the same timeslot two consecutive years, increased by about 200, 000. Minnesota-Green Bay drew an equal audience to New Orleans-Detroit last season. This all becomes less impressive when you consider that 2 million viewers watched a Leafs game on Wild Card Saturday last year. Certainly appears those viewers didn’t switch over to football this year.

Sunday ratings as a whole are about on par with last season. The early game was up by about 100, 000 this year, while Seattle-Washington was the only slot to suffer a decrease from last season (of about 100, 000). For everyone who likes to compare with the CFL, the Sunday NFL games averaged 1.52 million viewers, while the CFL Divisional games in November averaged 1.35 million viewers on TSN.

Also, in hockey news, a Sportsnet Hockey Central special actually beat TSN’s That’s Hockey 2 Nite on Tuesday, by about 1000 viewers. The two specials aired head-to-head at 9:00pm ET. 80, 000 watched Sportsnet, while 79, 000 watched TSN. On Sunday TSN’s specials attracted averages of 138, 000 in the morning (over 5 hours); 58, 000 between 9-10pm ET; and 103, 000 for SportsCentre between 10-11:30pm ET.