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MORE THAN A QUARTER OF ALL CANADIANS TUNED IN TO COVERAGE OF THE OPENING DAY OF 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL™ YESTERDAY

More than 5.2 million Canadians watched at least part of the Brazil vs. Croatia match
 
CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ got off to a hot start on Thursday as nearly 27 per cent of Canadians watched at least part of the opening day’s broadcast across all TV and digital platforms. Including coverage in English, French, Spanish and Italian, nearly 9.3 million Canadians took in at least some part of the coverage on Thursday including 400,000 watching via a digital platform.
 
The tournament’s opening match garnered an average audience of more than 1.6 million viewers (2+), 73 per cent higher than the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The audience peaked just less than 2.4 million viewers at 5:50 p.m. ET near the conclusion of the Brazil vs. Croatia game.
 
Overall, the game reached more than 5.2 million Canadians, this represents an increase of nearly 2 million viewers compared to the opening game four years ago. There were two games played on the first day of the 2010 tournament, however the average audience for Thursday’s game was higher than that of both 2010 opening day games.
 
Source: BBM Canada
 
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About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages.
 
For a complete list of publicity contacts and for more information including series synopses, press releases, hi-res images, video clips and bios, please visit the CBC Media Centre at cbc.ca/mediacentre. Follow CBC’s publicity team on twitter @CBC_Publicity.
 
For further information, please contact:
Simon Bassett, publicist, CBC Sports
Simon.Bassett@cbc.ca 416-205-8533 (Office) 416-988-1590 (Mobile)

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