Canadians Love Watching Television - Just Not Canadian Television
Filed under: Weird & Wonderful, Television
CTV has released its list of the most popular television broadcasts for 2010, revealing the TV watching habits of Canadians. So what is it we like to watch? Turns out it is sports, more sports, and a bit of celebrity. But what's missing from the list is just as telling. What don't Canadians like to watch?
Unfortunately, the answer is Canadian TV shows.
With the exception of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics which dominated the year -- even if it was just a one-off historical blip -- only four Canadian broadcasts in a list of 70 programs made it into CTV's list of most watched TV shows and events. No homegrown sitcoms made the list.
The two best performing Canadian broadcasts were both sports related. The Grey Cup garnered a respectable turnout of 5,027,200, making it the fourth most watched broadcast of the entire year (excluding the Olympics). Meanwhile, the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship twice made it into the list of most watched sporting events for 2010 -- once for the gold medal game vs. the U.S., and also for the playoff against Switzerland. Even so, it came in behind the Superbowl showdown between New Orleans and Indianapolis with an audience of 6,297,400.
In the category of "Top 10 Specials of the Year," the Juno Awards, which celebrate Canadian music, ranked 6th with 1,593,700 viewers while the Much Music Video Awards squeezed into 10th spot with 964,500 viewers. That was compared with the 6,192,100 who watched the Academy Awards and 2,862,700 who tuned into the Grammy Awards.
Meanwhile, Barbara Walters managed to make it into the same list -- twice!
What saves it for Canada, however, is the Olympics. The Vancouver Olympics was by far the most watched broadcast of 2010, with the Canada vs. USA men's hockey final attracting a whopping 16,674,000 viewers. Because the Olympics were a seasonal blip, they were placed into a category all of their own.
Top 10 Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Broadcasts
| Event | Date | Audience | ||
| 1. | HOCKEY: MEN'S GOLD MEDAL GAME, Canada Vs. USA | C.O.B.M. Consortium | 2/28/2010 | 16,674,000 |
| 2. | CLOSING CEREMONY | C.O.B.M. Consortium | 2/28/2010 | 14,442,000 |
| 3. | OPENING CEREMONY | C.O.B.M. Consortium | 2/12/2010 | 13,501,000 |
| 4. | HOCKEY: MEN'S, Canada Vs. USA | C.O.B.M. Consortium | 2/21/2010 | 10,675,000 |
| 5. | HOCKEY: MEN'S, Canada Vs. Russia | C.O.B.M. Consortium | 2/24/2010 | 10,564,000 |
| 6. | HOCKEY: MEN'S, Canada Vs. Slovakia | C.O.B.M. Consortium | 2/12/2010 | 9,865,000 |
| 7. | HOCKEY: WOMEN'S, Canada Vs. USA | C.O.B.M. Consortium | 2/25/2010 | 7,500,000 |
| 8. | HOCKEY: MEN'S, Canada Vs. Germany | C.O.B.M. Consortium | 2/23/2010 | 7,426,000 |
| 9. | SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING – Men's 1000m FINALS | C.O.B.M. Consortium | 2/20/2010 | 7,233,000 |
| 10. | HOCKEY: MEN'S, Canada Vs. Switzerland | C.O.B.M. Consortium | 2/18/2010 | 6,886,000 |
Top 10 Series' Individual Telecasts of the Year
| Program | Network | Date | Audience | |
| 1. | THE BIG BANG THEORY | CTV | 11/4/2010 | 3,724,500 |
| 2. | AMERICAN IDOL | CTV | 2/9/2010 | 3,665,000 |
| 3. | THE BIG BANG THEORY | CTV | 11/18/2010 | 3,531,400 |
| 4. | THE BIG BANG THEORY | CTV | 11/11/2010 | 3,478,000 |
| 5. | AMERICAN IDOL | CTV | 2/10/2010 | 3,441,900 |
| 6. | AMERICAN IDOL | CTV | 1/12/2010 | 3,441,500 |
| 7. | THE BIG BANG THEORY | CTV | 10/21/2010 | 3,434,200 |
| 8. | THE BIG BANG THEORY | CTV | 10/28/2010 | 3,432,700 |
| 9. | AMERICAN IDOL | CTV | 5/26/2010 | 3,375,300 |
| 10. | SURVIVOR: HEROES VS. VILLAINS | GLOBAL | 5/13/2010 | 3,354,800 |
For the entire list, please visit CTV.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-23-2010 @ 10:35AM
Colin said...
Sounds like CTV is blowing it's own trumpet, or did Stephan Harper pay them to publish this. With the hope of getting rid of CBC or didn't they poll the CBC programs? Probably not!
Reply
12-23-2010 @ 6:31PM
holland cross said...
Canadians should understand that more than 50% of all shows shown on Canadian Televison have been produced by Canadians or made in Canada .
Stop looking at the U.S. with Rose Coloured Glasses.
Reply
12-24-2010 @ 5:24AM
Tom said...
This is news to people, WHY?? It's easy to see Canadian television right down sucks and is to say the least, boring!
I don't like hockey(or anything to do with winter), nor do I like hunting/outdoorsy type stuff....Understandably, its all things "uniquely Canadian" But, why should I be forced to watch it??
Canada is getting more communist by the day!
Reply
12-24-2010 @ 3:42PM
S Gallup said...
I watch very little canadian TV, only news on CTV and CBC , the rest is not worth watching.
Reply
12-24-2010 @ 12:24PM
ERLE said...
YOUR,right Canada is getting more communist by the day so let,s all vote.
Reply
1-07-2011 @ 9:40AM
jason said...
they should be making more episodes of Corner Gas!
then there would be more good canadian tv to watch,
Also, a new canadian show that is really good but can only be downloaded for free is Pioneer One. google it. great canadian producing!
And Sorry CBC but i dont want to watch sports or news or anything with ben Mulroney!
Reply
5-17-2011 @ 8:43AM
Brian Wm. Burnett said...
I would watch the Grey Cup if it was available on CBC and not on cable.
But NOT the Olympics where ever it is broadcast.
However I do watch TVO (Ontario) most evenings.
There is a mix of locally produced Canadian shows and broadcasts BBC series as well as documentaries from around the world.
As for CBC or CTV sitcoms... I'll PASS on the drivel.
No offense but Little Mosque or Corner Gas are NOT my idea of quality programming.
But that is my opinion and you are free to watch whatever you wish or can afford to on cable, satellite or regular TV stations.
Reply