CBC Finally Catches a Break

After a difficult opening week in the playoffs for Hockey Night in Canada, CBC finally had some good news to report in its Senators-Penguins series, with last night’s do-or-die situation for Ottawa going into triple overtime and the Senators eventually living to play another game. That “other game” will go Saturday at 7 o’clock, ensuring that CBC will not have to go two straight weeks without a broadcast at its most popular hour. The triple overtime affair and subsequent Saturday night telecast should both help improve CBC’s ratings, which have been less than stellar so far. The Ottawa win also increases the odds that CBC could have at least one Canadian-based team to cover in the second round – another potential ratings booster.

After its colossal blunder in passing on the Canadiens-Capitals series, CBC will need to make a come-from-behind push if it wants to save face in its ratings war with TSN. The NHL is reporting a viewership increase of 103% on TSN through the first week of this year’s playoffs compared to the same period last year, while CBC’s numbers are only up 17%. BBM Canada reports that TSN drew an average of 1.785 million for the first two games of the Canadiens-Capitals matchup, while CBC attracted 1.656 million for its opening week telecasts. Considering TSN trailed CBC in the ratings by more than a 2-to-1 margin during the regular season, these new playoff numbers represent a landslide victory for TSN. CBC can only hope that the events of the past 24 hours will start to turn the tide.

THIS WEEKEND’S GAMES:
Tonight
Canadiens at Capitals – Game 5, 7 p.m. (TSN)/(RDS)
Bruins at Sabres – Game 5, 7 p.m. (CBC)
Kings at Canucks – Game 5, 10 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS – joined in progress)
Red Wings at Coyotes – Game 5, 10 p.m. (TSN)/(RIS)
Saturday
Predators at Blackhawks – Game 5, 3 p.m. (NBC)/(TSN)/(RDS)
Penguins at Senators – Game 6, 7 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Sharks at Avalanche – Game 6, 10 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Sunday
Coyotes at Red Wings – Game 6, 2 p.m. (NBC)/(TSN)/(RDS)
Canucks at Kings – Game 6, 9 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)