No real surprise, but CTV’s first week of Olympics coverage was a ratings winner in Canada, with primetime and daytime coverage taking the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively. When all the CTV “consortium” channels are added into the mix, this “National Olympic Network” had an average viewership of more than 3 million for its daytime coverage of the London 2012 games, while primetime coverage was more than 2.9 million. These are great numbers, but a significant drop from the 6.3 million Canadians who tuned in for the opening ceremonies.
The Olympics also provided a serious ratings boost for CTV’s newscasts, with its local 6 p.m. newscasts averaging nearly 1.8 million viewers nationally. The same held true for the network’s weekend newscasts, which averaged about 1.75 million, and the national news at 11 p.m., which came in at sixth place with more than 1.5 million.
Despite heavy competition from the Olympics, Global managed to score big ratings with Big Brother, with the three weekly airings (Thursday, Wednesday and Sunday) three spots on the week’s top 10.
Top 10 Shows in Canada — July 30-August 5, 2012 (Courtesy BBM Canada)
1. Olympic Primetime (CTV)
2. Olympic Daytime (CTV)
3. CTV Evening News (CTV)
4. CTV Evening News Weekend (CTV)
5. Big Brother (Thursday) (Global)
6. Big Brother (Wednesday) (Global)
6. CTV National News (CTV)
8. Big Brother (Sunday) (Global)
9. NCIS (Global)
10. Olympic Morning (CTV)
