The Vancouver Effect produces mixed results

The shine from the Vancouver Olympics is having different effects on different sports.

Hockey obviously hasn't suffered in Canada, while things are pretty much (bad) business as usual in the U.S. Saturday's Hockey Night In Canada regional split of the first game drew more than 2 million viewers, proving that Canadians aren't turned off by  NHL-style hockey after witnessing the best the sport has to offer in Vancouver.

While you might think the shine would be off the broom two weeks after Canada's medal-winning performances in curling, but the Brier final scored a record audience Sunday night of 1.6 million viewers. That's almost double last year's audience (873,000), though it should be noted that the new ratings system is consistently producing ratings about 20 per cent higher. Still, that's a big increase no matter how you measure it.

The Paralympics are obviously benefitting from the Vancouver afterglow, with the Canada-Sweden sledge hockey game drawing an amazing 390,000 viewers to Rogers Sportsnet.

Sadly, the Vancouver effect hasn't helped all of the events that turned on the country in February. None of the three World Cup skiing events on CBC Saturday afternoon could draw more than 72,000 viewers. And that's a shame.

South of the border, Sunday's Capitals-Blackhawks game drew a 1.0 rating for NBC -- pretty much average. Obviously, the thrill of Vancouver hasn't produced a bump for the NHL there.

Here are the top weekend sports ratings on English-language television, as calculated by BBM Canada:

1. NHL, Bruins-Habs/Oilers-Leafs, Saturday, CBC: 2,168,000

2. Curling, Brier final, Sunday, TSN: 1,600,000

3. NHL, Senators at Canucks, Saturday, CBC: 1,429,000

4. Curling, Page playoff, Friday, TSN: 979,000

5. Curling, Brier semifinal, Saturday, TSN: 973,000

6. Curling, Page playoff, Saturday, TSN: 823,000

7. NHL, Hockey Night In Canada pre-game, Saturday, CBC: 740,000

8. NHL, Flames at Canucks, Sunday, Sportsnet Pacific: 429,000

9. Paralympics, Canada-Sweden sledge hockey, Sunday, Sportsnet: 390,000

10. NHL, Capitals at Blackhawks, Sunday, TSN: 369,000*

11. Golf, CA Championship, Sunday, TSN: 327,000*

12. Golf, CA Championship, Saturday, TSN: 282,000*

13. Auto racing, F1 Bahrain Grand Prix, Sunday, TSN: 249,000

14. NBA, Raptors at Warriors, Saturday, TSN: 140,000

15. Track, World indoor, Saturday, CBC: 133,000

16. Hockey,  Windsor at London, Friday, Sportsnet Ontario: 100,000**

* Viewers on U.S. channels not calculated

** Ontario only

OTHER STUFF: So Tiger Woods is about to make his first post-driveway-accident appearance on a golf course at the Masters, which must prove that the counselling he was getting for his sex addiction really worked quickly. CBS is already predicting that his return to the links could top Barack Obama's inauguration for ratings. That will depend a lot on how he plays and whether or not Elin is in the gallery. ... TSN2 took a beating in the Windsor Star for its production of the women's CIS basketball final Sunday. Columnist Bob Duff knocked the channel for shoddy production and mispronunciation of players' names. ``Come on TSN -- if you want to call yourself Canada’s sports leader, then step up your game -- or leave the amateur sports to networks that really care," he wrote. I caught only the last few minutes of the game, but from what I saw Duff has a point. ... The 3-D revolution continues. Ten hours of the Masters will be shot in 3-D this year and will be available to all those who have 3-D television sets and computers. It's a pretty small market at this point, but it is coming. The World Cup of soccer will also be shown in 3-D.

Comments

[Jim Todd]

Not surprised by the US numbers for NHL. When they bury the premier Olympic hockey game - US vs Canada - on MSNBC, how can NBC expect to grow interest in hockey stateside?

[Rick Grace]

I'm not a huge curling fan, but the numbers don't lie. Curling is probably our third ranked major sport behind hockey and the CFL.

[Basshat]

Bob Duff is a notorious homer and Windsor cheerleader. Look at his argument three years ago that only Windsor, as OUA mens basketball champions, should have gone to the CIS and not the finalists from Carleton who eventually won the title. He did not make the same argument this year when Carleton blew out Windsor by 19 in the OUA final but both advance. No surprise there

However, in this case, he has a justified grievance: The coverage was amateurish and very biased in favour of Simon Fraser. The few message boards and blogs that focus on CIS sports have been buzzing over the shoddy coverage over the past week.

It's just a shame that he wouldn't have said a peep if it had been the other way around.

[SF]

"Shine off of the broom"? Look back a page or two on this blog Chris. In early February the Tournament of Hearts women's curling final drew 1.2 million, and the playoffs drew around 800,000. These are PPM numbers, not numbers inflated by the Olympics. I think your 20% number is very low as well. For the live sports I’ve been keeping track of it’s been much higher than that.

[JGH]

Rick..more like this..
1 NHL Hockey (with Canadian Teams)
2a CFL Football
2b NFL Football (with only US teams)
3 Curling (with limited exposure)

[Julien]

Excellent HNIC ratings as the Habs were the national game.

[Rick Grace]

Curling does big numbers all the time.
NFL only does okay once the CFL season ends.
If you look at the NFL numbers during the regular season they aren't that great.
And when you look at participation, curling has it all over football.

[Josh]

I find it funny how Rick says hockey and the CFL. The answer should either be hockey and football OR the NHL, CFL and NFL. Lets face it, those four sports (NHL, CFL, NFL and curling) are easily the highest rated in Canada, everything else struggles to get over a million.

[DLind]

Hey Chris - I heard Jack Armstrong on The Fan say that the Raptors have the third highest local TV ratings in the NBA behind the Cavs and Lakers. I've read that on Twitter as well. Can you confirm that?

If true, that's pretty impressive. It also would show how little the rest of Canada must be watching, considering the national ratings are low.

[JGH]

"The NFL does okay once the CFL ends"
Rick, you crack me up....

[Rick Grace]

Check the numbers JGH.
NFL did as low as 150,000 on Sportsnet for some games.
during CFL season.
You can't just count the Super Bowl as a barometer.
You gotta face the fact curling is bigger then the NFL in Canada.
Why that would bother you is another question

[JGH]

Whatever, Ricky.
For some reason you can't accept that people follow the NFL MLB and NBA in Canada. For some reason you get you get you back up and start making excuses after excuses on why. The NFL (and as I've mentioned a million times - MINUS ANY HOME MARKET) does extremely well....and Friday night Football gets thumped by SNF and MNF all the time. Your phony Canadiana is tiresome..sure hope you don't watch any American TV or Movies.....

[Rick Grace]

Give it up pal.
You give all these facts, but they're wrong.
Admit it.
Curling is more popular then the NFL in Canada.
Oh and some people follow the NBA and baseball in Canada.
Mainly in Toronto. But not many.
But its funny how if the west follows something like curling, its insignificant.
But if Toronto follows a sport, its "major league"
Hows that work again?

[Radar]

Hey Richard,

If you're so angry and uptight about Toronto, why do you read and comment on this and Truth and Rumours so often? Shouldn't you comment on the Whitehorse morning news or something?

[Rick Grace]

Huh? Angry and uptight?
I'm just giving the facts and rebutting people's arguements.
And I've only commented on that other site once or twice and not for a long time.