The CFL is the #1 sports property in Canada! Sunday's WDF drew 1,900,000 viewers on TSN, topping the combined ratings of Sabres-Leafs/Rangers-Habs games on HNIC last Saturday with 1,888,000.
Here are the most-watched sports events of the weekend according to BBM Canada overnight ratings:
Curious which has higher ratings NBA or MLS, still great news to see the CFL do well. With the Riders in the final and being at home this could be the most viewed Grey Cup in TV history on Sunday.
Canadians watching NFL on American cable channels are included in the combined CTV and CityTV ratings above. Contrary to what you may read in other columns, CRTC regulations require the rating points of simultaneously-substituted American cable channels to be included in the originating Canadian network’s ratings. This is done to give advertisers an accurate account of how many Canadians are viewing the commercials. Canadian networks sim-sub because they get the rating points of the American cable channel and can charge more for their advertising as a result.
When CTV boasts that 7.1 million Canadians watched the Super Bowl, there is no “hidden army” of another 7 million viewers who are watching the CTV signal on the American cable channel. They’re already included in the CTV ratings.
Could you imagine if a CTV ad salesman approached a potential advertiser like this:
CTV: “Super Bowl ads cost $100k per minute for the 7.1 million viewers, in addition to those watching our CTV signal substituted on the American cable channel”. Advertiser: “So how many are watching the CTV Super Bowl ads on the American cable channel?” CTV: “We have no way of knowing. It could be 10,000 or 10 million, my best guess is somewhere’s in the middle.” Advertiser: “I thought with the new PPM meters, even if you watched the game in a bar you’re still counted and PVR viewers too, but you can’t track those watching CTV’s sim-sub on cable?” CTV: “It’s a big mystery this sim-sub stuff. Not sure why we even do it since nobody knows how many are watching. For all we know there could be 15 million watching the CTV Super Bowl ads but we claim only 7.1 million, better to err on the side of caution.”
I don’t think the MLS playoffs are even televised in Canada? They certainly aren’t in the Top 20. I know the CBC paid TFC $4 million one season for their TV rights (as a replacement after losing the CFL) and drew audiences as low as 34,000.
MLS ratings in the U.S. have dropped off a cliff this season:
MLS's ratings have tanked this year. 20 matches on ESPN dropped a troubling 29% in viewership to [b]220,000[/b] per game during the regular season. Audiences also fell 8% in games on NBCSN to [b]112,000[/b]. This puts MLS beneath other second tier properties like the WNBA, IndyCar, and boxing. With the league's pivotal negotiations currently being opened, the timing couldn't be worse for MLS to see its TV ratings fall off a cliff.
There are many theories abound from the soccer community on how MLS can fix its television ratings conundrum. The truth is the league and its fans have to accept the fact that MLS isn’t as attractive of a TV product as the English Premier League or UEFA Champions League.
Television viewership in the playoffs is better than it was last year, but that isn’t saying much. The Portland-Seattle conference semifinal series averaged 213,000 viewers, up 50 percent from 2012, and probably would have been higher yet had not the second leg of the series been head-up against the Oregon-Stanford football game.
Doesn’t matter. Unless they are using television aerials or pirate satellite dishes, they’re watching the Canadian signal which is counted. The numbers of those watching the American feed is insignificant.
It is a moot point. At the end of the day, the CFL ratings are terrific. What does it matter how many people watch U.S. football?
As posters, we have to get past this NFL comparison. The CFL is NOT the NFL. It NEVER will be. Yet against this behemoth, the CFL has gone from a league that was almost bankrupt 20 years ago, to a league that is almost fully profitable. If the NFL grows 10 fold in the next 10 years, I don’t care, as long as the CFL also grows and it is there for next 101 years.
In the mid 90's, we were almost bankrupt. 20 years later, things are really looking up!
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From one of the articles mentioned above...
In March, the CFL and TSN agreed to a five-year broadcast agreement reportedly worth $43 million annually, more than 2 ½ times the existing deal which expires at season’s end. The financial boost will mean increased payments from the league to its teams.
In 10 years, the numbers will easily be north of $100M/yr. Wait for it.
The MLS ratings on their National TV providers have dropped yes but during many National telecasts there are several other games goin on with local or Regional telecasts.
I would like to see a combined rating for MLS games played at the same time like the ratings for the Leafs and Habs games were combined.
No one seems to talk about that but right now all MLS franchises now have reputble Networks in which they show their non national games like CSN, Fox Sports regional, or other local networks that are affiliated the large braodcasting companies in the US.
In Canada, English Premier league games are the top ratings achiever in terms of soccer leagues. If there is a big matchup in a late morning to early afternoon timeslot this year, the ratings have been between 200-250k. Average games get near 100k. So, they have overtaken most NBA & MLS games.
Only World Cup & Euros are on par or higher than NHL, CFL or Jays ratings.
Thats nice too see those numbers but we still have more Canadians watching similar NFL playoff games. Last seasons Super Bowl got 6,447,000 Canadian viewers lets see how the Grey Cup does on Sunday.
