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Once the final total numbers are in, The Amazing Race Canada will have soared past the three million viewer mark for its CTV premiere. Monday’s overnight estimate came in at an average minute audience of 2,986,000. Of those, 1,396,000 were in the A18 – 49 demo.
The big gain at 9 p.m. did not help 8 p.m. comedy Satisfaction, however. The Toronto-lensed sitcom drew 409,000 on CTV, followed by 502,000 for a repeat of Anger Management.
CTV is claiming Race Canada is the “Most Watched Canadian Series Debut Ever.” That’s going out on a twisty limb. Back when there were fewer networks and less accurate ways to measure audience, shows would draw two, three or four million viewers a week because the pie was only split three or four ways. Ten years ago, Quebec’s Star Academie was drawing three or four million viewers an episode just in that one province.
When the current ratings system of Portable People Meters first came in, the little clip-on gizmo’s were counting every tick and termite in the walls. Regular episodes of House tallied four-and-a-half million viewers. CTV’s Vancouver Olympic Games were averaging eleventy million-billion viewers for, like, curling.
That said, I can’t off hand recall any previous Canadian made regular series bowing to more than three million. Little Mosque opened to over 2 million. Dan For Mayor and Hiccups opened big thanks to an Olympic push, both nudging two mil. Combat Hospital opened to two mil and we all know what happened to that Global drama.
If you count CTV’s two episodes of Who Wants to Be a Canadian Millionaire as part of a series, 4.17 million watched that premiere, topping Amazing Race Canada.
Hey, either way, CTV wins.
Other ratings notes from Monday: Global’s CBS pickup Under The Dome continues as the scripted drama story of the summer, The Stephen King thriller, which stars Canadian Rachelle Lefevre, pulled 1,794,000 in its fourth outing.
Meanwhile Monday, the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby drove home 694,000 on SportsNet.
