CFL TV Ratings

[argotom]

Bell's unwillingness to put games on Sunday (except playoff games, go figure) contributes to scheduling in this league being a real mess. Thursdays are lousy for ratings, Friday doubleheaders cut out some eastern viewers who aren't willing to stay up until 1 a.m., and some Saturday doubleheaders do that as well. And tripleheaders on Saturday mean one game in the middle of the day, when viewership is bound to be low. And scheduling games on three (occasionally four) days in a week (so that all games can be televised nationally) means some teams get screwed with very short weeks. There is no solution in sight to any of this. I suppose if a non-Bell network came in it might be willing to try games on Sundays, but in view of the NFL ratings juggernaut that seems like a bad idea. Another idea, which Bell would oppose, would be to have some games played simultaneously, with the same start times every week. Say Fridays at 8 ET and Saturdays at 5 and 8 ET, with one "overlap" game each week. Viewers would choose which one to watch when two games are on at the same time. It would almost certainly reduce overall viewership, but it would eliminate the "I don't know what day and time the games are" excuse, and it would mean an end to short weeks except the week after Labour Day.

Horrible decision to eliminate the Sunday games, I still can't believe the league would let Bell/TSN dictate this regardless of the $40M annual contract.
Some stupid Toronto Ad agency decided to eliminate NFL competition and remove our league when in fact our Sunday numbers were stronger than the No Funners.
Not to mention the gross elimination requirement from the CTV national network for a minimum playoffs and Grey Cup showing.
I remember a few years back at BMO when then commissioner Jeff Orridge came down into the stands and I had a good conversation with him for a good five plus minutes.
He was fully aware of the need and said all the right things about the league negotiating with multi potential partners to increase the rights and not like the current no competition TSN situation.
Also for what it's worth he agreed with me to have a regular game schedule to include Sundays.
Maybe that's why the got rid of him as he was not a yes man.
The league I am afraid has done everything possible to shoot itself in multi feet and the damage looks to be irreparable.

[Will]

Games starting at 10 ET, or even 930, are bad for ratings. NFL made it work for years with Monday Night Football, but that was an event. Now no NFL games start as late as that. Maybe they are on to something. I would happily trade later starts in Toronto (8 or even 830 on occasion) for games in Alberta and Vancouver starting earlier than they often do now.

The Lions are never going to agree to that. I think they view that as a home-field advantage for their team against eastern opponents. I think it is also their revenge for all the 4 PM Pacific starts when the Leafs play the Canucks.

[jerrym]

The Oct. 6 CFL TV ratings were the second best of the year thanks to Rider and Bomber games but the Argos/Calgary game drew only 300,000.

Prairie rivals Winnipeg and Saskatchewan came together to record the second-largest single-game television audience on TSN of the 2022 season so far this past week. ...
It was just the third matchup to eclipse the 700,000 mark this year on English-language TV, all of which have included the Riders. The top mark remains the Labour Day Classic, which featured 796,000 average viewers, while the other was a Week 8 tilt against the B.C. Lions when Nathan Rourke led a comeback victory.Toronto’s awful loss in Calgary drew a surprisingly low audience with less than 300,000. The Argos usually have a solid if unspectacular following on TV and the Stampeders can bring in viewers but without Bo Levi Mitchell starting at quarterback — one of the league’s most recognizable and polarizing players — the team’s numbers have dropped.
Strong competition from the Toronto Blue Jays and the NFL has negatively impacted the CFL’s viewership.


2022 Week 17 TV ratings:
Friday
Saskatchewan at Winnipeg — 701,800
Ottawa at BC — 425,200
Saturday
Montreal at Edmonton — 233,400
Toronto at Calgary — 298,400
Total Week 17 average: 414,700

https://3downnation.com/2022/10/06/b...f-2022-season/

[jerrym]

The Oct. 20 TV ratings were the worst so far with no Rider game with the Argos barely breaking 250,000 against the sad-sack Elks.

After the Blue Jays were swept out of Major League Baseball’s postseason by the Mariners the previous weekend, an ideal scenario was set up for the CFL to thrive on TV but that was far from the case. Yes, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the three-down league’s best draw, were on a bye. However, during the Riders’ first two off weeks earlier in the season, the numbers did not plummet as much.
The NHL has returned to the ice and provided increased competition. The Canadiens were playing at the same time as the Alouettes on Friday night, just like the Maple Leafs and Argonauts on Saturday evening. Montreal lost 3-0 to the Detroit Red Wings which was viewed by 200,000 on TSN2 while the early games on Hockey Night in Canada drew 1,472,600 across Sportsnet channels and the late slate produced 919,800 average viewers coast to coast.Thursday Night Football between the Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears on TSN and CTV2 came in at 676,200, while Auston Matthews leading the Leafs to a 3-2 win over the Capitals counted 690,500 on TSN the same night.
The 1 p.m. NFL kick-offs on Sunday registered 276,400 on CTV, 175,000 on CTV2 and Tom Brady losing to the Steelers had 349,100 onlookers on TSN. Meanwhile, the 4 p.m. window on CTV brought in 915,400 as Bills’ QB Josh Allen beat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the featured game, while 167,600 watched the Rams and Panthers. Sunday Night Football between the Cowboys and Eagles recorded 320,400 on CTV2 and 261,400 on TSN for a total of 581,800.
Monday Night Football’s overtime game won by the Los Angeles Chargers over the Denver Broncos totalled 542,800 on TSN, which was nearly half as much as Monday Night Hockey on Sportsnet. With the Canadiens and Leafs on the ice at the same time, the combined rating was 1,022,600.
It’s worth noting the Ticats and Stamps beat out three MLB post-season games on Friday and Saturday’s CFL games each outrated four pro baseball playoff games.
2022 Week 19 TV ratings:
Friday
Montreal at Ottawa — 244,400
Hamilton at Calgary — 311,900
Saturday
Toronto at Edmonton — 250,600
Winnipeg at B.C. — 464,000
Total Week 19 average: 317,725

https://3downnation.com/2022/10/20/h...f-2022-season/

[ArgoRavi]

Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows about my deep concerns with the current TV deal - and the one we have been stuck with for the past 15 years - limiting and reducing the exposure of this league (due to cord-cutting). While the Grey Cup ratings are up from last year, they are still down over a million from just five years ago and the reality is that the ratings will continue to drop as there are simply fewer and fewer subscribers every year:https://3downnation.com/2022/11/21/t...ent-from-2021/

The CFL must find a way to get back on a network like CBC, CTV or Global, which all Canadians have access to. Yes, I know that streaming is the future and the league needs to be aware of that also but network TV still draws the biggest ratings because all Canadians have access to that. The league cannot afford to wait until 2026 to fix this issue either. This TV deal, along with Bell's desire to pump the NFL's tires at the expense of the CFL, has been slowly strangling this league for far too long.

[OV Argo]

Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows about my deep concerns with the current TV deal - and the one we have been stuck with for the past 15 years - limiting and reducing the exposure of this league (due to cord-cutting). While the Grey Cup ratings are up from last year, they are still down over a million from just five years ago and the reality is that the ratings will continue to drop as there are simply fewer and fewer subscribers every year:https://3downnation.com/2022/11/21/t...ent-from-2021/

The CFL must find a way to get back on a network like CBC, CTV or Global, which all Canadians have access to. Yes, I know that streaming is the future and the league needs to be aware of that also but network TV still draws the biggest ratings because all Canadians have access to that. The league cannot afford to wait until 2026 to fix this issue either. This TV deal, along with Bell's desire to pump the NFL's tires at the expense of the CFL, has been slowly strangling this league for far too long.

Tell it like it is Ravi !

[Argo57]

Tell it like it is Ravi !

Come on OV, Randy has everything under control.

[bannedforlife]

The CFL must find a way to get back on a network like CBC, CTV or Global, which all Canadians have access to. Yes, I know that streaming is the future and the league needs to be aware of that also but network TV still draws the biggest ratings because all Canadians have access to that. The league cannot afford to wait until 2026 to fix this issue either. This TV deal, along with Bell's desire to pump the NFL's tires at the expense of the CFL, has been slowly strangling this league for far too long.

That's it in a nutshell. Working out a deal with CBC and TSN like CBC has with Sportsnet for hockey would be a brilliant start. CBC also has been very good with their foray into streaming, they have the resources to handle that.

Internationally more markets and fans could be created by using old games and individual teams and the league's own content to create a FAST channel on the quickly growing free content services like Pluto TV, Xumo and Samsung TV Plus to name a few. MLB, NFL and MLS have FAST channels

Victor Cui commented that a fan of the Esks doesn't necessarily have to attend games, they could be in another country following on another provider like BT Sports 4 or a FAST service and supporting the team by buying merchandise, etc.

[Will]

For the record, TV ratings for the Grey Cup were 3,121,000. This was up from last year, however lower than the Argos two previous Grey Cup appearances in 2017 and 2012.

[ArgoRavi]

For the record, TV ratings for the Grey Cup were 3,121,000. This was up from last year, however lower than the Argos two previous Grey Cup appearances in 2017 and 2012.

Grey Cups used to draw 6 million+ viewers in the late 2000s and we are now at half of that. I wonder how many fewer subscriptions TSN has today compared with 2009. I worry that hitting even 3 million over the next four seasons (while the league is still under this exclusive deal with TSN) will be an increasingly tall order.

[Will]

Grey Cups used to draw 6 million+ viewers in the late 2000s and we are now at half of that. I wonder how many fewer subscriptions TSN has today compared with 2009. I worry that hitting even 3 million over the next four seasons (while the league is still under this exclusive deal with TSN) will be an increasingly tall order.

When did TSN lose the NHL rights to Sportsnet?

[argolio]

When did TSN lose the NHL rights to Sportsnet?

2014 I think.

[Rich]

For the record, TV ratings for the Grey Cup were 3,121,000. This was up from last year, however lower than the Argos two previous Grey Cup appearances in 2017 and 2012.

Ya but 4.7 million viewers saw the end of the game, which is an excellent number, and each and every one of them saw a thrilling finish and got a taste of how exciting CFL football can be.

[bannedforlife]

Grey Cups used to draw 6 million+ viewers in the late 2000s and we are now at half of that. I wonder how many fewer subscriptions TSN has today compared with 2009. I worry that hitting even 3 million over the next four seasons (while the league is still under this exclusive deal with TSN) will be an increasingly tall order.

I've posted somewhere that several years ago (before cord cutting really picked up steam) that at best TSN had only 80% coverage of the country's potential audience that CBC/CTV do. They have got to get off cable. With cord cutting going the way it is I think I'd rather see them go to a content provider like Netflix (they would need a producer). Apparently, what MLS has done with Apple hasn't really been a great idea.

[ArgoRavi]

I've posted somewhere that several years ago (before cord cutting really picked up steam) that at best TSN had only 80% coverage of the country's potential audience that CBC/CTV do. They have got to get off cable. With cord cutting going the way it is I think I'd rather see them go to a content provider like Netflix (they would need a producer). Apparently, what MLS has done with Apple hasn't really been a great idea.

I believe that 80% number is what was trotted out when the CFL went exclusively with TSN back in 2007-08. I can't imagine it is anywhere near that today.

I have been pissed off about this since they announced that deal in 2007. Keith Pelley, a former TSN executive, was given carte blanche to negotiate that TV deal and never even spoke with long-time partner CBC. Then within months of the CFL announcing that deal, Bell/TSN/CTV announced they had acquired the NFL rights and it was clear from the outset which league was going to be the priority for them.

[ArgoRavi]

Ya but 4.7 million viewers saw the end of the game, which is an excellent number, and each and every one of them saw a thrilling finish and got a taste of how exciting CFL football can be.

i think that a good chunk of TSN subscribers saw all or part of Sunday's game. The problem is that TSN's subscriptions are shrinking by the year.

[SkalbaniasGhost]

They have got to get off cable.

The CFL is right where it's supposed to be.

[bannedforlife]

The CFL is right where it's supposed to be.

Heavenly ordained is it? Those 40 years on CBC and CTV circumventing the divine order?

[bannedforlife]

If Randy is serious about CFL 2.0 they really need a FAST channel to compliment live game contracts to foreign countries.

[SkalbaniasGhost]

Heavenly ordained is it? Those 40 years on CBC and CTV circumventing the divine order?

Banned,

I was being facetious.I am very much agreeing with the sentiment of the last several posts.