The latest Numeris Top 30 list of English Canadian TV viewership is interesting for how uninteresting it is.
The week in question is January 18 – January 24, 2021. A lot was going on that week, including the inaugeration of US president Joe Biden. Coverage of that event knocked a lot of shows that would have aired on the Wednesday of that week off the schedule and also raised viewwership levels on CNN higher than what is reflected on the Numeris list. (The US cable news service is not factored into the Canadian Top 30 mix.)
What’s left, then, is a handful of hour-long dramas that few under 50 watch; news reports and football.
Sure, Tom Selleck is a wonderful actor and still has fans who look forward to Blue Bloods every Friday night. (It ranks 6th this week with 1.8 million CTV viewers.) This is nothing Numeris could measure, but I will go out on a limb amd guess that millions more see Selleck on TV putting on a comfy sweater and doing ads for reverse mortgages for elderly home owners and think, “Whoa, moustache Magnum — like you’d ever risk your house.”
That ads for reverse mortgages, or “cash back” money lending operations, or health care for seniors, are so prevelant on prime time network TV these days is a flashing red warning sign of the times. A lot of people are earning less, including broadcast TV network divisions within large media companies.
Here then, in a weakened field, are the Top 10 shows of the week in English Canada based on average minute audience according to Live+7 data (viewers 2+):
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- The Good Doctor (CTV) Mon 2,313,000
- NFL Playoffs (CTV/TSN) Sun 2,286,000
- 9-1-1 (Global) Mon 2,207,000
- 9-1-1: Lonestar (CTV) Mon 2,108,000
- NFL Playoffs (CTV/TSN) Sun 2,092,000
- Blue Bloods (CTV) Fri 1,800,000
- Young Sheldon (CTV) Thurs 1,798,000
- CTV Evening News (CTV) MTWTF 1,741,000
- NCIS (Global) Tues 1,689,000
- CTV Evening News Weekend (CTV) Sat 1,433,000
Beyond that, recent import Call Me Kat ranked 12th for the week on CTV with 1373,000 viewers. CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries (#23 with 1,059,000 viewers) still tops Global’s Private Eyes (#27; 888,000) in the battle of the top-rated Canadian scripted dramas. A Toronto Maple Leafs game on Sportsnet National placed 19th with 1,169,000 fans. And people still watch shows such as Magnum, The Resident, Bull, MacGyver and Law & Order: SVU. (In the 11 to 24 range.)
