That final game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers had it all — bunts, a near brawl and a broken bat. Everything but a win for Toronto — althought it was a huge win for Rogers Sports and Media.
The overnight estimate of the combined Sportsnet and Citytv audience who watched Game 7 in Canada Saturday night was 9,533,000. Count all the digital tallies plus some playbacks of the extra-innings thriller and that total will surely soar well beyond the ten million mark.
UPDATE: And indeed it did. According to a Monday afternoon release from Rogers, “An average audience of 10.9 million viewers watched Game 7 of the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers on Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ and Citytv, making it the most-watched Rogers broadcast ever. It also becomes the most-watched English-language broadcast on record in Canada outside of the 2010 Winter Olympics.”
Rogers goes on to say that, “The entire World Series averaged 7.5 million viewers, with 23 million Canadians tuning in at some point. The seven World Series broadcasts were the seven most-watched Blue Jays games ever.”
Looking at just the overnights: Of the Game 7 total, 7,191,000 was the average minute audience estimated for those watching on Sportsnet National+. Drill down tot he 18-49 demo, and advertisers got their messaged out to 2,673,000 younger viewers. The overnight total of those watching the Fox feed on Citytv Saturday night was 2,342,000.
Sportsnet’s pre and post shows were also robust ratings grabbers. Saturday on Sportsnet the pre-game, 10-minute window fetched 2,673,000. The number of viewers who did not exit their screen with the final out: 1,049,000 post-game viewers.
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Friday’s Game 6, also played in Toronto at the Rogers Centre, drew about a million less — still much higher than any NHL Stanley Cup final draws during the three decade-plus Canadian team championship drought. Sportsnet National drew 6,292,000 Friday, 2,136,000 of those in the 18-49 demo. Another 1,926,000 watcxhed Game 6 of City’s simulcast of the Fox feed.
The Blue Jays two near misses trounced everything else on broadcast and specialty this weekend. Still, over on TSN, a smart decision to schedule the CFL Western semi Saturday in a late afternoon (in the East) slot allowed and AMA of 678,000 to catch a close tilt won by Vancouver’s BC Lions over the Ca;gary Stampeders.
