CBC News Network saw its largest all-day average audiences in the last decade on February 18 and 19
CBC News digital platforms saw an increase in video views of 363 per cent from February 18-20, compared to the daily average over the past 13 months
The National garnered its two largest average audiences for 2+ and 25-54 on CBC TV since 2019 on Feb. 14 and again on Feb. 18. The combined average 2+ audience for the Feb. 18 edition across CBC and CBC News Network was 1.158 million viewers
Audiences continue to choose CBC for trusted news when it matters most. For coverage of the protests and police action in Ottawa over the past weekend, audiences turned to CBC News to deliver the information they needed. TV viewers in Canada spent more time watching coverage on CBC News Network than any other all-news channel in Canada from Friday, Feb. 18 through Sunday, Feb. 20, delivering an audience share of 8.4 percent across those three days. CBC News Network also saw its two largest all-day average audiences in the last decade on Friday and Saturday.
From Friday through Sunday, nearly 6 million viewers tuned in to CBC News Network, with audiences peaking at 1.03 million tuned in at 12:03 p.m. ET on Saturday for live and breaking news coverage from Ottawa. Aside from the main CBC channel and its coverage of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, CBC News Network recorded the highest all-day average audience of any English network in Canada on Friday and Saturday. Those two days on CBC News Network saw average all-day audiences more than four times the season average to date, with twice as many viewers watching for twice as much time compared to an average day.
CBC’s February 14 live news special on CBC News Network, focused on the protests in Ottawa, was the most-watched live news special on the channel so far this year. THE NATIONAL on CBC that same day saw its largest average audience for viewers 2+ and 25-54 since 2019, both of which were topped just four days later when the average audience for both demographics increased for THE NATIONAL on Friday, Feb. 18. The average audience for THE NATIONAL on Feb. 14 across CBC TV and CBC News Network was 975,000 (2+) while the Feb. 18 edition garnered an average of 1.158 million viewers (2+). From Feb. 18-20, the average daily watch time for THE NATIONAL on YouTube (63,364 hours) increased by 32 percent and was up 60 percent on CBC digital platforms (13,193 hours), compared to the daily average for both over the last 13 months.
Audiences also stayed with CBC News digital platforms for the latest out of Ottawa over the weekend, with hours spent across cbc.ca/news, CBC Gem and the CBC News app nearly tripling (an increase of 189%) compared to the daily news hours average over the last 13 months, between Feb. 18-20. CBC News Network also saw increases on digital platforms, with 250 percent more video views and 271 percent more viewing time from Friday through Sunday. The CBC News app experienced roughly three times as many video views per user on Friday and Saturday than the average for February 2022, and reached 19 percent more users from Friday through Sunday than the average over the past 13 months.
Additionally, the CBC News special that aired nationally on CBC Radio One on Monday, Feb. 14 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. ET resulted in an increase in average audience of 60 percent compared to the typical audience at that time of day.
TV Data Source: Source: Numeris TV Meter, Feb 2022, CBC and CBC NN, Mo-Su 2a-2a, Total Canada, AMA,%Share, generated by Infosys+TV; Numeris TV Meter, February 14 & 18, CBC Total & CBC NN, A2+, Mo-Fr 10p-11p, Total Canada, AMA, generated by InfoSys+
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About CBC/Radio-Canada
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simon.bassett@cbc.ca
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