Both shows renewed for next season; MARKETPLACE to celebrate its 40th anniversary
Prime-time current affairs programming proved to be tremendously popular with Canadians in the just-wrapped 2011-2012 season according to data from the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM).
MARKETPLACE, Canada’s consumer watchdog, earned its highest season ratings in more than 15 years (best since 1994-95) with an average weekly audience of more than 1.1 million viewers, a 29 per cent increase over last season. MARKETPLACE won its time slot four times, and over the course of the season more than 8.3 million viewers tuned in to at least some part of the program, equivalent to almost 25 per cent of the population or about one in four Canadians. Following this blockbuster season, Marketplace returnsin the fall for its 40th season on CBC Television and expands to a full year, from 12 episodes to 24.
the fifth estate also posted a large jump in viewers, boosting its ratings by 17 per cent over last season with an average weekly audience of 677,000 and a total season viewership of 11.2 million Canadians. Earlier this season, the fifth estate won its largest single audience in more than a decade (1.3 million viewers) for its minute-by-minute reconstruction of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster.
“This has been an outstanding season for CBC News and its investigative and current affairs programming,” said Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor in chief of CBC News. “The numbers speak for themselves: Canadians are reacting to the strong, in-depth journalism that CBC News delivers. They want much more than just the headlines and sound bites—they want the full picture behind the big news stories, and they want to be fully informed as consumers and as citizens.”
About CBC News
CBC News is the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.
For further information, contact:
Melissa Prince, Veritas Communications
o) 416-482-2669
c) 416-704-8733
prince@veritascanada.com
