Early Numbers Underscore CBC's Blunder

TSN may be Canada's most watched specialty network, but over-the-air CBC benefits from a penetration rate into Canadian homes of close to 100%. It's not surprising, therefore, that the public broadcaster significantly outdraws its cable competitor when it comes to hockey audiences. For example, according to the NHL, Hockey Night in Canada on CBC averaged 1.4 million viewers during this past regular season, whereas the NHL on TSN was able to attract only 633,000. For those of you doing the math at home, that means that CBC heavily outdrew TSN by more than a 2-to-1 margin.

But preliminary ratings from the first week of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs suggest that, in a shocking reversal of fate, CBC has relinquished its huge lead over TSN and the two networks are now running neck and neck. Media columnist William Houston is reporting that TSN drew 2.1 million viewers for its Saturday night Canadiens-Capitals telecast, while CBC only picked-up 35,000 more for its Canucks-Kings broadcast later that evening. Even worse for Hockey Night in Canada, it was only able to pull-in 1.69 million the next night for the Senators-Penguins.

Considering TSN’s paltry penetration rate compared with that of the CBC, Houston’s numbers would represent a landslide victory for the sports cable channel. With more detailed (and official) ratings scheduled to be released later this week, my earlier suspicions about CBC committing a huge error by choosing to pass on the Canadiens-Capitals series may very well be confirmed. And with all three Canadian-based teams currently trailing 2-1 in their respective series, CBC may not get the opportunity to correct its gaffe come the second round.

TONIGHT’S GAMES:
Coyotes at Red Wings – Game 4, 6:30 p.m. (TSN)
Penguins at Senators – Game 4, 7 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)
Devils at Flyers – Game 4, 7:30 p.m. (TSN2)/(RIS)
Blackhawks at Predators – Game 3, 9 p.m. (TSN)/(RIS – joined in progress)
Sharks at Avalanche – Game 4, 10 p.m. (CBC)/(RDS)