Like, we wanna watch Canadian teams, eh!

If anyone is wondering why CBC and TSN want Canadian teams as part of their hockey schedule, it was illustrated over the weekend.

TSN still has a Canadian team, the Calgary Flames, and as a result scored the highest ratings of the weekend. CBC, with Vancouver awaiting its next opponent and Montreal wondering how it could all go so wrong, saw its Stanley Cup playoff audiences take a dive. Saturday's Sharks-Ducks game was one of the least-watched Saturday night games on CBC all season.

None of this, of course, should shock anyone. Neither should some of the other ratings.

The Blue Jays are hot and scoring solid April ratings on Sportsnet. The NBA continues to draw flies (58,000 for Saturday's Denver-New Orleans playoff game.) Formula One racing is doing pretty well (163,000 for an 8 a.m. start.)

If there is a surprise, it's that a world championship hockey game between Canada and Hungary managed to pull in an average audience of 331,000 viewers. For Hungary? More amazing, it was on tape delay so anyone who cared already knew the results.

Then again, it is hockey.

Here are the most-watched sports events of the weekend, according to BBM Nielsen Media Research overnight ratings.

1. NHL playoffs, Flames at Blackhawks, Sunday, TSN: 885,000

2. NHL playoffs, Rangers at Capitals, Friday, TSN: 637,000

3. NHL playoffs, Devils at Hurricanes, Sunday, TSN: 628,000

4. NHL playoffs, Ducks at Sharks, Saturday, CBC: 551,000

5. NHL playoffs, Penguins at Flyers, Saturday, CBC: 542,000*

6. NHL playoffs, Capitals at Rangers, Sunday, TSN: 376,000*

7. Baseball, Blue Jays at White Sox, Friday, Sportsnet: 349,000**

8. Hockey worlds, Canada vs. Hungary, Sunday, TSN: 331,000

9. Baseball, Blue Jays at White Sox, Saturday, Sportsnet: 329,000

10. Baseball, Blue Jays at White Sox, Sunday, Sportsnet: 299,000

* Viewers for NBC not calculated

** Ontario and Pacific regions only

Comments

[VanDave]

Thought TSN's numbers might be higher. Does anyone have the number of households they reach compared to CBC?

[Mike]

Just curious, what did the Sox/Yankee game Sportsnet showed on West and East Friday night get?

[Rick Gross]

Judging by this writers opinions, its amazing how many people in the sports media just hate hockey. I say its amazing 300,000 people can sit through an entire baseball game without going into a coma.

[Clarkie 90210]

A point was made in an earlier blog about why TSN shows the road feed, rather than providing their own announcers. Cost is the obvious reason, but I was wondering if the ratings would go up if TSN did use their own people on the telecast?

[Shawn L]

Love this blog Mr. Zelkovich, would it be possible to include the time of the broadcast when you post the ratings? A weekly top ten for each station would be great too.

[Mike]

Lol, Chris has never said he hates hockey. It's amazing what some people can take out of a story when they need to fit their own viewpoint.

[Godot]

Re Rick Gross comment,

Like golf, most baseball viewers are well over 50 and sedentary. Thus the high ratings are more likely due to comas -- not in spite of them.

[Josh O'Donnell]

Shawn L, here are the start times for each

1. NHL playoffs, Flames at Blackhawks, Saturday 9:00pm , TSN: 885,000
2. NHL playoffs, Rangers at Capitals, Friday 7:00pm, TSN: 637,000
3. NHL playoffs, Devils at Hurricanes, Sunday 7:30pm, TSN: 628,000
4. NHL playoffs, Ducks at Sharks, Saturday 10:00pm, CBC: 551,000
5. NHL playoffs, Penguins at Flyers, Saturday 3:00pm, CBC: 542,000*
6. NHL playoffs, Capitals at Rangers, Sunday 2:00pm, TSN: 376,000*
7. Baseball, Blue Jays at White Sox, Friday 8:00pm, Sportsnet: 349,000**
8. Hockey worlds, Canada vs. Hungary, Sunday 4:45pm, TSN: 331,000
9. Baseball, Blue Jays at White Sox, Saturday 7:00pm, Sportsnet: 329,000
10. Baseball, Blue Jays at White Sox, Sunday 2:00pm, Sportsnet: 299,000

[Barry]

You can count me as one of the viewers that picked the NBC feed over CBC.