TORONTO – TSN’s live coverage of yesterday’s Canada vs. Czech Republic gold medal game from the 2005 IIHF World Men’s Hockey Championship attracted a national average minute audience of 1.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Men’s hockey game ever on TSN and the 13th most-watched program in TSN history.
French language RDS’s live coverage of yesterday’s gold medal game attracted an average minute audience of 317,000 viewers, bringing the total audience to 1.7 million viewers.
Audience levels on TSN peaked at 1.6 million viewers from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET towards the end of Canada’s 3-0 loss.
TSN’s coverage of the game marks a 64% increase over last year’s gold medal game from Czech Republic (Canada 5, Sweden 3), which attracted 826,000 viewers, and a 53% increase over the previous most-watched World Men’s Hockey game – the 1994 gold medal game from Italy (Canada 2, Finland 1), which attracted 884,000 viewers.
Of course, there’s usually NHL playoff hockey to watch now, at this time of year.
TSN’s coverage of Team Canada’s nine games throughout this year’s tournament averaged a record-setting 518,000 viewers, making it the most successful World Men’s Hockey tournament in TSN history. The nine-game average surpasses the previous high from Team Canada’s nine games at the 1994 tournament, which averaged 433,000 viewers.
Additional highlights of TSN’s record-breaking ratings at the 2005 IIHF World Men’s Hockey Championship include:
* TSN’s coverage of the semifinal featuring Canada vs. Russia attracted 831,000 viewers, making it the third most-watched World Men’s Hockey game ever on TSN
* TSN’s coverage of the semifinal featuring Czech Republic vs. Sweden attracted 379,000 viewers, making it the most-watched non-Canada World Men’s Hockey game ever on TSN
* TSN’s coverage of Team Canada’s three round robin games averaged 323,000 viewers, while Team Canada’s three qualifying games averaged 367,000 – both setting tournament ratings records
TSN televised 17 games this year, nearly doubling the number of televised games from TSN’s schedule last year.
The following is a list of the Top 15 most-watched programs of all-time on TSN:
1. 2003 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship gold medal game (Canada vs. Russia) – Jan. 5, 2003 – 3,453,000
2. 2005 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship gold medal game (Canada vs. Russia) – Jan. 4, 2005 – 3,227,000
3. 2003 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship semifinal (Canada vs. USA) – Jan. 3, 2003 – 2,013,000
4. 2005 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship semifinal (Canada vs. Czech Republic) – Jan. 2, 2005 – 1,893,000
5. 1999 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship gold medal game (Canada vs. Russia) – Jan. 5, 1999 – 1,816,000
6. Blue Jays Baseball – Sept. 29, 1989 – 1,806,000
7. Blue Jays Baseball – Oct. 2, 1991 – 1,585,000
8. World Cup Soccer final – July 12, 1998 – 1,549,000
9. 1991 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship gold medal game (Canada vs. Russia) – Jan. 4, 1991 – 1,440,000
10. Blue Jays Baseball – Sept. 27, 1993 – 1,435,000
11. World Cup Soccer final – July 1994 – 1,420,000
12. NHL Playoffs on TSN (Eastern Conference Final: Game 6 – Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay) – May 20, 2004 – 1,391,000
13. 2005 IIHF World Men’s Hockey Championship gold medal game (Canada vs. Czech Republic) – May 15, 2005 – 1,354,000
14. 2005 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship round robin game (Canada vs. Slovakia) – Dec. 25, 2004 – 1,349,000
15. Blue Jays Baseball – Aug. 23, 1993 – 1,315,000
