4.7 Million Viewers Watch Canadiens-Capitals Game 7 on TSN and RDS
Toronto, ON (April 29, 2010) – Last night’s dramatic Game 7 victory by the Montreal Canadiens over the Washington Capitals was watched by an average audience of 4.7 million viewers on TSN and RDS combined according to overnight data from BBM Canada. Audience levels peaked at 8.2 million viewers (TSN and RDS combined) in the final minutes of the third period as Montreal held on to upset Washington and win the series.
TSN’s audience of 2.8 million for the game was the highest audience ever recorded for an NHL game on TSN and was the most-watched program on Canadian television last night in all key advertising demographics.* The Montreal-Washington series ranks as the most-watched playoff series ever on TSN (any rounds) with an average audience of 1.8 million viewers over seven games. With all of the game’s highlights and analysis, SPORTSCENTRE immediately after the game attracted an average audience of 1.1 million viewers.
RDS’ audience of 1.9 million represents an impressive 51% share of the Quebec-Franco market and was the top-ranked French network in all key advertising demographics. RDS’ average for the Montreal-Washington series was 1.34 million over seven games – 12% higher compared to Canadiens playoff games on RDS last season.
The Montreal-Washington Game 7 capped off a record-setting playoff round for TSN. Through 23 NHL playoff games in the first round, TSN averaged more than 1.07 million viewers – 89% higher than its average audience in the first round of the playoffs last season (567,000)*.
TSN’s average audience for each of its first round playoff series is as follows:
Montreal-Washington (7 games on TSN) – 1.8 million
Detroit-Phoenix (7 games on TSN) – 811,000
Chicago-Nashville (5 games on TSN) – 777,000
New Jersey-Philadelphia (4 games on TSN) – 545,000
TSN’s ongoing NHL playoff coverage continues with coverage of all games from the Eastern Conference semifinal series featuring Boston vs. Philadelphia and the Western Conference semifinal series featuring Detroit vs. San Jose. TSN’s coverage gets underway tonight with Game 1: Detroit @ San Jose at 8:30 p.m. ET. Coverage of the Boston-Philadelphia series begins with Game 1: Philadelphia @ Boston on Saturday, May 1 at 12 noon ET on TSN.
TSN has coverage of the first three rounds of the 2010 STANLEY CUP® PLAYOFFS.
*English-language
**Audiences prior to August 31, 2009 based on BBM Nielsen Media Research Mark II meters.
TSN
TSN is Canada’s Sports Leader and Canada’s most-watched specialty network. Delivering more sports coverage in High Definition than any other network in Canada, TSN’s comprehensive broadcast schedule features an exciting lineup of sports including NHL, IIHF, CFL, NFL, NBA, Blue Jays Baseball, Season of Champions Curling, Golf’s Majors, F1, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Grand Slam Tennis and Championship Boxing events. TSN properties include TSN2, TSN MOBILE and the industry leading sports website TSN.ca. Official broadcaster of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and London 2012 Games of the Olympiad, TSN is a division of CTVglobemedia.
RDS
Le Réseau des Sports (RDS) is a French-language sports network that features a comprehensive world-class programming grid. Since its inception in 1989, RDS has built up an unparalleled broadcast schedule, acquiring such exclusive sports properties as all Montreal Canadiens and other NHL regular season games including the Stanley Cup Playoffs, CFL and NFL football, including both the Grey Cup and Super Bowl games, F1 and NASCAR racing, the World Series of Baseball, over 30 PGA Tour events including all four Major tournaments, the world’s most prestigious tennis competitions as well as the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. RDS was the official broadcaster of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and will reprise this role for the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Summer Games.
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