UPDATED with Friday and Saturday and also Sunday network numbers.
That Jeopardy IBM infomerical was a hit (featuring Alex Trebek, Ken Jennings, Watson and Brad Rutter, above), topping two million viewers per day on CBC over the three-day challenge. Look for Jennings, Watson and Rutter next season on Survivor: Deduction Island.
Two and a Half Men, Survivor, American Idol the new Criminal Minds and The Big Bang Theory all also had big weeks. A look at Feb. 14-20, 2011, across Canada, overnight 2+ estimates:

MONDAY
Why does CBS tolerate Charlie Sheen? Big numbers for Two and a Half Men, that’s why. The sitcom drew close to two-and-a-half-million overnight, estimated CTV viewers Monday night (2,405,000), topping everything else in Canada on this day. CTV saw ratings dip in Week Two for Matthew Perry’s new rink comedy Mr. Sunshine (1,129,000), with new fellow Canuck Tyler Labine’s new rom-com Mad Love premiering at 1,449,000. Mike & Molly expanded to 1,858,000 at 9:30. Castle crowned CTV’s night with 1,746,000.
Global likes Mondays, too. House stood tall at 2.1 million+. Jennifer Beals’ new Fox cop show The Chicago Code arrested 1,351,000. Hawaii FIVE-O remained consistently strong with 1,673,000 viewers.
That brain-bot Watson helped boost Jeopardy! to 1,862,000 to start last week. Not that it helped Little Mosque (485,000), 18 to Life (246,000) or Village on a Diet (359,000).

TUESDAY
Good Wife‘s Archie Punjabi
What topped Glee and everything else in the Canadian national ratings Tuesday? That would be Jeopardy!, Alex. The second man vs. machine episode soared to 2,081,000 viewers. Even Wheel of Fortune spun gold for CBC, hitting 1,422,000 at 7 p.m. The Rick Mercer Report enjoyed the bounce to close to 1.4 million at 8. CBC’s night slid from there, with InSecurity (485,000) and Pillars of the Earth (465,000) both nudging past the Brampton Barrier.

In total households, Glee (1,714,000) didn’t even beat NCIS: Los Angeles (1,783,000) on Global (although it cleaned up among the younger demos). A steamy episode of The Good Wife followed with close to 1.3 million overnight, estimated viewers.
CTV had an ordinary night with No Ordinary Family (966,000), Law & Order: SVU (1,032,000) and The Listener (884,000).



Survivor: Redemption Island

 WEDNESDAY
Global had to be glad to see Russell and Boston Rob back on Survivor. The well hyped Redemption Island premiere drew an overnight, estimated 2,659,000 viewers Wednesday, nudging past CTV’s two hour American Idol take (2,633,000). As the Global PR team was quick to point out, the demo tally tilted even more in their favour. Survivor won 1,396,000 to 1,175,000 among 25-54-year-olds. Global sez they beat Idol by 28% in 18-49s and skunked everybody in Toronto and Vancouver.
All of which makes CBC’s 8 p.m. take for Dragon’s Den all the more impressive: close to 1.6 million viewers.
Republic of Doyle’s numbers stayed strong at 9 with 843,000. Not bad opposite the premiere of CTV’s new crime import Criminal Minds: Extra F’d Up Behaviour, which opened to 2,468,000.
Global followed Survivor with out-of-simulcast NCIS (678,000)and medical drama Off The Map (1,044,000). That final robot Jeopardy! tally? What is 2,035,000. A good week for IBM.

THURSDAY
Forget Survivor and American IdolThe Big Bang Theory is still the biggest show in Canada. The CBS comedy drew 3,462,000 to CTV Thursday night, with close to 2 million of those in the 25-54-year-old demo.
It was all part of a dominant night for CTV, starting with CSI at 7 (1,179,000) then S#*! My Dad Says (2,639,000), Grey’s Anatomy (2,537,000) and The Mentalist (2,704,000) following Big Bang.
Global weathered the night with Wipeout (1,037,000) and Bones (1,238,000). The Office, which is slumping in the States (that Thursday night NBC comedy block is tanking) did just 412,000 on Global.
Jeopardy! said bye-bye-brainiacs and answer-bot and half the audience went with them. Just 1,048,000 tuned in to CBC Thursday to see the start of the Teen Tournament. A rare Thursday night hockey game drew 703,000.

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FRIDAY
CTV crime dramas The Defenders (1,404,000), Blue Bloods (1,880,000) and CSI: New York (1,769,000) swept Friday as usual.
Marketplace continues to grab a fair share of the TV market on Fridays, attracting 923,000 viewers. A RMR repeat drew 629,000, followed by the fifth estate (475,000).
Global also airs programs on Fridays, including Haven (268,000).

SATURDAY
Hockey Night in Canada Game One: 2,283,000. No wonder CBC renewed Don Cherry’s contract.

SUNDAY
Speaking of Grapes, he was back Sunday night for CBC’s coverage of the Heritage Classic game in Calgary. Flames beat Habs 4-0, CBC scored 2,078,000 Sunday night viewers.
Otherwise things were pretty much back to normal on the private networks. CTV ran the table with Undercover Boss at 7 (1,479,000) followed by the premiere of the 18th (and first in Hi-Def) edition of The Amazing Race (2,664,000). Then it was Desperate Housewives (1,641,000) at 9, out-of-simulcast CSI Miami at 10 (1,680,000).
The Simpsons delivered their steady million-plus for Global (1,081,000), with Family Guy close behind (887,000). Bob’s Burgers (535,000), The Cleveland Show (501,000) and Brothers & Sisters (609,000) were also rans.

3 Comments

  1. Thanks for the figures on the first HNIC game of the tripleheader last week.

    Same type of question, what was the HNIC audience for the Dallas-Vancouver game this past Saturday?

  2. If I can change the subject to a station that has never had a winner in the ratings — What is going to happen to CKXT-TV, the conventional TV station for the moment still branded as Sun TV?

    Quebecor Media has applied to the CRTC to increase the power of the CKXT’s digital signal from transmitters in Toronto and Hamilton later this year after the analogue shutdown. Yet otherwise Quebecor has acted as though they have no interest in continuing to operate CKXT-TV. They stopped producing local programming at the end of 2010, which I would assume is a requirement of their licence, and apparently told employees they will no longer be broadcasting this station when Sun News starts.

    Can we assume they have someone lined up to take over the CKXT-TV licence? If so, who is it? Are there any realistic potential owners who don’t already own a Toronto conventional TV station, such as Channel Zero, Bluepoint, or MLSE? With the strong possibility that BDUs could soon be required to start paying for the presently free conventional stations, and if Quebecor’s asking price is cheap, this is an opportunity that could provide a big pay-off down the road.

    If the BDU fees happen, I could see this working for MLSE if they use it for Leaf and Raptor games while filling the rest of the schedule with the cheapest possible programming. It could be a better alternative than attempting to start their own general sports cable channel to compete with TSN and Sportsnet.

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