How much is ten minutes with U.S. president Barack Obama worth? Last night it was worth 1,082,000 viewers to The CBC National News.
CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge‘s experience and story sense showed as he tackled that toughest of assignments–ten minutes with a red hot media superstar on their turf. Add all those White House security clearances and it was a wonder he could remember his own name. Yet Mansbridge went right after Obama, asking the questions Canadians most wanted to hear answered.
Watching you couldn’t help wonder–couldn’t this guy handle Thursday’s prime minister/presidential meeting instead of Harper? If you missed it, the whole interview can be viewed in the YouTube clip posted below:
With a minimum of fuss and words Mansbridge set up tomorrow’s Ottawa summit and zeroed in on the main issues. It is hard to get candid, off-message responses in that 10 minute trap and Obama didn’t blurt anything surprising or new (although he did seem to know where Burlington, Ont., is located). He simply answered the questions as directly as they were put to him. Mansbridge has the gravitas for the assignment but has lost none of that all important curiosity and sense of opportunity. When it is Go-Time, Mansbridge proved once again that he is our go-to news guy.
Other notable Tuesday numbers for Canadian productions: CBC’s Wild Roses lasooed 420,000 and Global’s Project Runway Canada drew 378,000 (BBM/NMR overnight commercial estimates). Mercer and 22 Minutes were in repeats.
The night’s big winner, as usual, was CTV’s American Idol (2,238,000 plus when you top it off with CTV’s BBM “Total” score). Global’s NCIS (1,491,000) and CTV’s Law & Order: SVU (1,477,000+) grabbed most of what is left Tuesday night.
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