Tennis stands out in a weekend of the usual

I don't know why I always think that things are going to change after a week's vacation. Every time I flee from the office, I assume that when I return drastic changes will have taken place. Maybe announcers will have learned to talk less, maybe poker will finally be stricken from the sports channel lineups.

But everything's pretty much the same, except the announcers seem to be talking even more and there appears to be more poker than ever.

A look at a weekend's worth of TV ratings produces pretty much the same-old, same-old. The CFL continues to dominate the summer scene and the Blue Jays' audiences are shrinking along with the team's winning percentage. 

If there was a surprise, it's the size of the tennis audience. Sunday's Rogers Cup women's final attracted an average of 212,000 viewers to CBC, up 39 per cent over last year. Having Maria Sharapova in the final didn't hurt, that's for sure.

Here are the top English-language sports ratings for last weekend, as supplied by BBM Nielsen Media Research:

1. Football, Blue Bombers at Lions, Friday, TSN: 480,000

2. Football, Roughriders at Alouettes, Friday, TSN: 408,000

3. Auto racing, NASCAR Sharpie 500, Saturday, TSN: 277,000

4. Baseball, Angels at Blue Jays, Sunday, TSN: 245,000

5. Tennis, Rogers Cup final, Sunday, CBC: 212,000

6. Tennis, Rogers Cup semifinal 1, Saturday, CBC: 170,000

7. Tennis, Rogers Cup semifinal 2, Saturday, CBC: 156,000

8. Baseball, Angels at Blue Jays, Friday, Sportsnet: 165,000*

9. Track and field, World Championships, Saturday, CBC: 151,000

10.  Track and field, World Championships, Sunday, CBC: 149,000

11. Baseball, Red Sox at Yankees, Sunday, Sportsnet: 143,000

12. Baseball, Angels at Blue Jays, Saturday, TSN: 141,000

13. Auto racing, F1 European Grand Prix, Sunday, TSN: 137,000

14. Auto racing, IRL, Sunday, TSN: 114,000

15. Soccer, Fulham at Chelsea, Sunday, Score: 74,000

16. Soccer, Man City at Wolverhampton, Saturday, Sportsnet: 58,000

17. Soccer, Toronto FC at Chivas, Saturday, Sportsnet: 40,000

* Ontario and Pacific channels only

Comments

[JoeKnowsIt]

Combine RDS with TSN's numbers and the Sask-Als game probably closes in on 700,000 viewers nationally. Amazing. Thats getting close to HNIC numbers.

[Peter]

Watching TSN's coverage of the Rogers Cup Tennis Tournament was a refreshing change from the usual American coverage of tennis. Vic Rauter and Tracey Austin actually displayed a respect for the match being played and the viewers watching. They stopped talking when points were played and kept their comments to a minimum. They were terrific. We need more of this, "Less is more", school of broadcasting.