TV NUMBERS REMAIN STRONG

CFL Talk
1

Yet another week and more of the same, ho hum.
The CFL games remain extremely strong averaging nearly one million per.
The Als-Argo clash includes the English only audience and when we add the RDS figure of over 300,000 another 1M+ viewers are involved.
Absence in the below is the pathetic numbers for the soccer TFC games.
I wonder now with Keith Pelley in charge of Sportsnet, whether he was also brought in to bid on the CFL contract when due in 2012.
Regardless, the $50M per season is in range.

08/18/2010
Sportsnet One's debut shuts out Jays fans
It probably doesn't happen that often, but I understated the case in my Monday column when I knocked Rogers for shutting out tens of thousands of Blue Jays fans by putting Saturday's game on Sportsnet One.

The Jays two games on the West Coast scored more than 480,000 viewers apiece on Rogers Sportsnet. Saturday's game, available only on Sportsnet One to Rogers customers, drew substantially less than that. BBM Canada originally reported the audience at 31,000, but admitted today that there were errorrs in its calculations.

Suffice to say, though, that it didn't make enough mistakes to drive up that number to 400,000.

It should be noted that any numbers for Sportsnet One right now are not national because Rogers sphere of cable influence doesn't extend to the West and many parts east of Ontamrio.

In addition, most viewers were probably unaware that Sportsnet Junior even existed. One reader tells of calling Rogers in Toronto and finding that even some of their employees didn't know what Sportsnet One was or what channels it was on.

This will eventually change. After all, TSN2 scored some pretty dismal ratings in the early going and is doing just fine now. But in the meantime there are legions of irate Blue Jays fans wondering what they did to deserve this treatment.

Here are the weekend's most-watched sports events on English-language television, according to BBM Canada ratings:

  1. CFL, Alouettes at Argos, Saturday, TSN: 829,000

  2. CFL, Tiger-Cats at Blue Bombers, Friday, TSN: 817,000

  3. CFL, Eskimos at Stampeders, Sunday, TSN: 768,000

  4. Golf, PGA Championship final round, Sunday, TSN: 530,000*

  5. MLB, Blue Jays at Angels, Sunday, Sportsnet: 484,000

  6. MLB: Blue Jays at Angels, Friday, Sportsnet: 481,000

  7. Golf, PGA Championship third round, Saturday, TSN: 427,000*

  8. Tennis, Rogers Cup second semifinal, Saturday, CBC: 364,000

  9. Golf, PGA Championship second round, Friday, TSN: 314,000

  10. Tennis, Rogers Cup first final, Sunday, CBC: 299,000

  11. Track and Field, Diamond League London, Saturday, CBC: 224,000

  12. Tennis, Rogers Cup first semifinal, Saturday, CBC: 221,000

  13. Auto racing, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Sunday, TSN2: 217,000

  14. Soccer, West Brom at Chelsea, Saturday, Sportnset: 130,000

2

is argoT argotom?

3

Yes DG, look at my posting of mega problems with this site and since moved over to Off Topic.
I seriously considered not coming back and finally had to register with a new handle.

4

hey, how come the Rider vs Lions game isn't there?

5

It's a Thursday game and not included in the weekend TV package summary.
I don't get why we do not have these numbers either.
Still I would consider the same average around 900K.

6

I sent an e-mail to cfl.ca staff suggesting that they publish the ratings in the schedule page (http://www.cfl.ca/schedule/year/2010/time_zone/0), like they publish the attendance numbers. If they are stuck for space on that screen, they could put both the viewership and the attendance numbers in the "View Stats" page for each game. They must have the viewership figures for every game and that include the RDS numbers - first figure I would have when approaching or being approached by potential advertisers.

Maybe if more people also send a similar e-mail, they will see that there is demand (which I also mentioned in the e-mail) and they will do something along these lines.

7

That is a good idea. Also, to include the RDS numbers when the Als play.

8

ya.. where is the riders lions game? indeed.

wait? they played on thursday didnt they? that could explain it.

it would also be interesting to see the demographics here. for example, how many 18-35 year olds watched as opposed to 36-50 year olds and etc.

9

That was a game?I though the Rider’s were playing an exhibition bout against a local high school team with the same colors as BC :lol:

10

i wonder what kind of TV deal the CFL will be able to manage with these strong numbers? these are exceptional numbers...

11

Although I previously stated the negotiations should start at $25M per year, this number is way too low and should be $50M per.
Especially due to the TV numbers this year averaging nearly 1M and equally as important the hiring of Keith Pelley as the President of Sportsnet.

12

interesting… I mean these CFL numbers are in the NHL territory… not the early HNIC numbers but still… really amazing… and you know numbers are going to be massive once the playoffs roll around…