MORE THAN 85% OF CANADA TUNES IN FOR CBC/RADIO-CANADA’S COVERAGE OF THE OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES PYEONGCHANG 2018
31 million viewers in Canada watched Team Canada’s record-setting performance across all networks and platforms over 17 days of coverage
Canadians stayed up for the action, with CBC’s overnight audience growing by 767 percent
Tessa and Scott won Canada’s heart and delivered the most-watched moment of the Games,
with 5.7 million tuning in for their Feb. 19 gold medal moment
February 27, 2018 – Between the Opening Ceremony on February 9 and the Closing Ceremony on February 25, 31 million* Canadians (more than 85 percent of the population) tuned in to watch CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 across all English and French television network partners and digital streaming simulcasts on cbc.ca/olympics, ici.radio-canada.ca/jeuxolympiques and CBC/Radio-Canada Olympics apps. CBC’s English-language primetime coverage across all broadcast networks throughout the Games garnered a 2+ average minute audience of over 3 million viewers, with CBC alone capturing a 24 per cent primetime audience share**.
“Canadians love their winter sports and CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of PyeongChang 2018 brought them every breathtaking medal moment on the platform of their choice, no matter what schedule they were on,” said Greg Stremlaw, executive director, CBC Sports, and general manager and chef de mission for CBC/Radio-Canada's coverage of PyeongChang 2018. “Team Canada came out in full force at these Games, and CBC/Radio-Canada is honoured to have brought their peak performances home to Canadians. We look forward to continuing to follow the athletes’ journeys through our year-round coverage of high-performance sport.”
Many Canadians adapted to the 14- to 17-hour time difference with Pyeongchang, South Korea, and changed their viewing habits to become sports-consuming night owls or early birds – the number of Canadians watching television increased by almost one-fifth for the periods of overnight (+16 percent), morning (+19 percent) and late morning (+16 percent) during the Games, as compared to the regular television season. Audiences for CBC’s overnight coverage of the Games alone were 767% higher than its average overnight block***.
The top five most-watched moments from CBC’s coverage of PyeongChang 2018 across CBC and broadcast partners TSN and Sportsnet are as follows:
- 5.7 million viewers at 11:21 p.m. ET at the end of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s gold-medal winning ice dance free skate performance, on Day 10 (Mon. Feb. 19). (CBC, TSN1, TSN3 and TSN4)
- 4.8 million viewers at 2:11 a.m. ET, at the end of the Canada vs. USA women’s gold medal hockey game, when Team USA scored the winning goal against Canada in the sudden-death shootout, on Day 13 (Thurs. Feb. 22). (CBC, TSN1, TSN2, Sportsnet and Sportsnet ONE)
- 4.1 million viewers at 10:32 p.m. ET during the performance by Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje as part of the ice dance short program, on Day 9 (Sun. Feb. 18). (CBC and Sportsnet)
- 4 million viewers at 9:57 p.m. ET when Canada won its first gold medal, in Team Figure Skating, on Day 2 (Sun. Feb. 11). (CBC, TSN4 and TSN5)
- It’s a snowboard tie:
3.7 million viewers at 9:29 p.m. ET when Canadians Max Parrot and Mark McMorris won Canada’s first medals of PyeongChang 2018 – silver and bronze, respectively, in men’s snowboard slopestyle, on Day 1 (Sat. Feb. 10). (CBC and Sportsnet ONE)
3.7 million viewers at 9:21 p.m. ET when Canadian Sébastien Toutant captured a gold medal in men’s snowboard big air, on Day 14 (Fri. Feb. 23). (CBC)
Over the course of PyeongChang 2018, CBC/Radio-Canada and partner networks TSN, RDS and Sportsnet offered more than 3,100 hours of coverage across broadcast and digital platforms.
*Sources: Numeris TV Meter, Friday February 9 to Sunday February 25, Total TV, M-Su 2a-2a, Total Canada, AMA & CumRch generated by Infosys+ TV. Based on preliminary overnight data.
**Source (Share): Numeris TV Meter, Friday February 9 to Sunday February 25, M-Su 7p-11p, daypart data, local time, Total Canada, Share (%) among Total English TV stations, generated by Infosys+ TV. Based on preliminary overnight data.
***Source: Numeris TV Meter, Friday February 9 to Sunday February 25, M-Su 2a-6a, AMA generated by Infosys+ TV. Based on preliminary overnight data. Regular season based on Sept 25 2017 to Feb 4, 2018, M-Su 2a-6a, daypart data, Eastern Time.
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About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and
world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
For more information, contact:
Tanya Koivusalo, CBC
416-205-8638 (t); 647-649-6067 (m)
