CTV and its consortium broadcasters (a.k.a. the National Olympic Network) continued to reap the benefits of broadcasting the London Olympic games, with a whopping 7.5 million Canadians tuning in to watch the spectacular closing ceremonies, featuring a who’s who of British pop music that included everyone from The Who to the Spice Girls.
Meanwhile, CTV’s strategy of offering a sneak peek of Charlie Sheen’s comeback sitcom Anger Managment in the midst of Olympics coverage paid off handsomely, with more than 2.8 million viewers sampling the new comedy in which Sheen plays an unorthodox anger-management therapist.
In addition to its high-rated coverage of the games itself, CTV also saw an Olympics-related boost for its national and local newscasts, with the CTV National News and the weekday and weekend editions of CTV Evening News all earning spots in the top 10.
Competing against the Olymics, Global’s Big Brother held its own, capturing the No. 8 and No. 9 spots with about 1.5 million viewers apiece.
Other shows to crack the top 30 included Global’s Rookie Blue (No. 11), CBC’s Coronation Street (No. 21 and No. 23 for each of two weeknight episodes), Global’s long-running daytime soap The Young and the Restless (No. 24) and CFL football on TSN (No. 26).
Top 10 Shows in Canada — August 6-August 12, 2012 (Courtesy BBM Canada)
1. Olympics Closing Ceremony (National Olympic Network)
2. Anger Management (CTV)
3. Olympics Pre-Closing Ceremony (National Olympic Network)
4. CTV Evening News (CTV)
5. Olympics Primetime (CTV)
6. CTV Evening News Weekend (CTV)
7. CTV National News (CTV)
8. Big Brother (Wednesday) (Global)
9. Big Brother (Thursday) (Global)
10. Olympics Daytime (CTV)
