2023 Argos and CFL TV Ratings

[jerrym]

While the CFL cut its preseason TV coverage in half, it was able to once again depend on Rider Nation for one game with high ratings.

TSN chose to cut its 2023 Canadian Football League preseason coverage in half, dropping from four to two television broadcasts. But even that small sample size shows viewers were jonesing for CFL ball.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders 28-16 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers drew more eyeballs on TV than many regular season games did last year — one tilt in Week 21 last year had less than 200,000 viewers. Clearly, Rider Nation wanted to see Trevor Harris play in green and white for the first time, despite the game not counting in the standings....

The other tune-up contest broadcast nationally by TSN was the Alouettes visiting the Redblacks on May 26. Cody Fajardo did not play in the game but it still attracted more than 275,000 viewers on TSN and RDS combined. Fajardo put on Als colours for the first time in Montreal’s last preseason tilt, which was aired exclusively on RDS, TSN’s French-language affiliate, and produced a respectable viewing audience.


CFL preseason TV ratings 2023:
Week 1: Montreal vs. Ottawa — 275,900 (TSN and RDS combined)

Week 2:
Hamilton vs. Montreal — 140,400 (RDS)
Saskatchewan vs. Winnipeg — 361,700 (TSN)

https://3downnation.com/2023/06/06/2...cast-audience/

[jerrym]

Of course even when the CFL gets an opportunity, such as the CBS TV contract, it always seems to make a muddle of it, in this case by starting off by choosing the Calgary game. Ratings were down 12% from last year for the first week.

Sometimes, and quite frankly too often, the CFL doesn’t do itself any favours. Exhibit A: the CFL’s choice for its 2023 season opener.
There’s a new major United States network broadcasting the three-down league and Jim Nantz was on the airwaves during The Memorial hosted by Jack Nicklaus, one of the top PGA Tour tournaments outside of the majors, promoting the Lions versus Stampeders. Interested fans who tuned in saw a half-empty McMahon Stadium.
Bo Levi Mitchell brings in eyeballs. It’s easy to say in hindsight but the CFL should have put the Tiger-Cats versus Blue Bombers game first on the schedule. The league could also have simply copied what the NFL does, which is match the defending champions against a sexy team. They could have had the reigning Grey Cup champion Argonauts at the start of the Chad Kelly era with multiple opponent options.
Mitchell travelling down the QEW for his first game with the Ticats against their storied rivals would’ve ensured hype around the matchup and lots of black and gold fans making the short trip to check out Hamiton’s new franchise quarterback. You could have had the pomp and circumstance of the Argonauts’ 109th Grey Cup banner unveiling and the rest.
The league could have also sent Kelly and the Argos to Winnipeg or Saskatchewan where the fans would have shown out.
This is about making the league look cool and exciting to a first-time audience. Commissioner Randy Ambrosie wants the CFL to have ‘some swagger’ but that wasn’t the case with a CFL kickoff game that had 17,000 and change in attendance with less than a quarter-million people watching in Canada.
There was plenty of competition on TV for Thursday night’s CFL opener, which was beyond the league’s control. The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Houston Astros 3-2 with 876,700 people tuning in on Sportsnet. 1,660,100 watched Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sportsnet and CBC as the Florida Panthers edged the Las Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime.
Friday Night Football went over 500,000 viewers on TSN in a fun 42-31 win by the Blue Bombers over the Tabbies. The Alouettes and Redblacks’ defensive tilt on Saturday night had a decent number considering it was directly against Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, which drew 1,853,200 viewers on Sportsnet and CBC. Finally, the Roughriders and Elks produced the highest-rated CFL game in Week 1.
English TV ratings were down over 12 percent compared to the first week of regular season Canadian football one year ago.

2023 Week 1 TV ratings:
Thursday B.C. at Calgary — 226,900

Friday Hamilton at Winnipeg — 511,500

Saturday Ottawa at Montreal — 278,500 English and 174,000 French

Sunday Saskatchewan at Edmonton — 535,300

Total Week 1 average: 388,050 (French included: 431,550)

2022 Week 1 TV ratings:
Thursday Montreal at Calgary — 345,500

Friday Ottawa at Winnipeg — 434,000

Saturday Hamilton at Saskatchewan — 557,000
Edmonton at B.C. — 430,000

Total Week 1 average: 441,625

2021 Week 1 TV ratings:
Thursday Hamilton at Winnipeg — 683,100

Friday B.C. at Saskatchewan — 764,600

Saturday Toronto at Calgary — 318,400
Ottawa at Edmonton — 341,700

Total Week 1 average: 526,950

2019 Week 1 TV ratings:
Thursday Saskatchewan at Hamilton — 522,100

Friday Montreal at Edmonton — 395,600
(French viewership on RDS — 140,000)

Saturday Ottawa at Calgary — 490,100
Winnipeg at B.C. — 685,800

Total Week 1 average: 523,400

https://3downnation.com/2023/06/14/2...ear-over-year/

[jerrym]

In week 2, the Sunday Argos versus Ticats produced low TV ratings with only 264,000 watching on TV, the lowest of the four games on view, while Rider Nation produced the highest viewership once again, especially because they were playing the Bombers.

Over 690,000 average viewers tuned in to once again show the strength of the CFL lies in Manitoba and Rider Nation. The entertaining contest was featured on TSN with competition from Sportsnet’s Toronto Blue Jays broadcast.

That strong number reinforces the probability for either the Bombers or Riders to draw over 500,000 each time those teams touch the Canadian field — regardless of the opponent. Other franchises in the three-down league need to step it up.

The Stampeders’ trip to the nation’s capital on Thursday night resulted in a disappointing number, especially considering the Blue Jays played a day game which left the evening viewing wide open for the CFL.

With the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final finished, there was less heavy competition for eyeballs in Week 2. Although, the U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club provided an intriguing prime-time weekend viewing option.

2023 Week 2 TV ratings:
Thursday Calgary at Ottawa — 273,000

Friday Winnipeg at Saskatchewan — 690,600

Saturday Edmonton at B.C. — 529,000

Sunday Hamilton at Toronto — 264,000

Total Week 2 average: 439,150

https://3downnation.com/2023/06/21/f...fl-tv-ratings/

[jerrym]

As the CFL continued its summer Sunday game experiment, the Argos versus Elks game produced a much better viewership than the Week 2 Sunday game.

Throughout Canada’s summer months in June, July and August, the CFL has 10 Sunday night primetime games scheduled in the first 12 weeks of the season. It’s part of an experiment the three-down league and its exclusive broadcast partner, TSN, are trying in order to assess best scheduling practices. “The idea of having four nights during the season really allows us to focus on those primetime games. Get a real focus on each team and one game each night,” commissioner Randy Ambrosie explained. “We’re treating it all as a learning experience. We will look at and review the data as we start the scheduling process for 2024 and we’ll take into account what’s happened. We’ll consult with our broadcast partners as well.”

The first Sunday night game of this year produced 535,300 average viewers but it benefitted from the Roughriders bump, as Saskatchewan beat Edmonton. Bo Levi Mitchell versus Chad Kelly in Week 2 didn’t deliver anticipated numbers with 264,000. However, Week 3 got over 400,000 while the Elks and Argos put up 74 combined points. “I’m hoping that by trying different things that ultimately what we’ll get from that will be a formula that works for the CFL and really is attractive to our fans. You have to try things in order to know what will work and what doesn’t. I think it’s a worthwhile experiment, we’ll learn from it and improve our system going forward,” Ambrosie said.

Thursday night football struggled out of the gate. Less than 230,000 TV sets were tuned into the season opener in Week 1. The Stampeders’ 26-15 win against the Redblacks in Week 2 didn’t do much better with 273,000. Week 3 featured a matchup of undefeated teams and nearly the same amount of onlookers took in the game on TV as watched the first two Thursday night games combined. “I’m told by some of the younger people that I know, which they don’t include me in that category sadly, Thursday is the first Friday of the week. We only had one Friday when I was a kid but apparently, they have two now,” Ambrosie said. “We’re treating it all as a work in progress. We’re treating this all as what’s best for our fans.”

Meanwhile, the Alouettes and Tiger-Cats held up decently well in their TV competition with the Blue Jays on Friday night. 895,600 watched Canada’s Major League Baseball team lose 5-4 to the Oakland Athletics.

2023 Week 3 TV ratings:
Thursday B.C. at Winnipeg — 497,700

Friday Montreal at Hamilton — 306,000 TSN and 210,000 RDS for 516,000 total

Saturday Saskatchewan at Calgary — 636,700

Sunday Toronto at Edmonton — 423,000

Total Week 3 average: 465,900 (French included: 518,400)

https://3downnation.com/2023/06/28/c...-3-tv-ratings/

[bannedforlife]

Pretty amazing numbers in this era of massive cord cutting. The old girl ain't dead yet.

New heights: Week 6 thrillers help CFL set multi-year regular season TV ratings high
Justin Dunk 3downnation.com July 19, 2023

The Canadian Football League has set a new multi-year television ratings mark for a slate of regular season games.

Each matchup in Week 6 averaged 62.5 points with 251 scored combined. Three games featured thrilling finishes in the fourth quarter or overtime. It was the highest-rated week on television dating back to Week 2 of the pandemic-shortened 2021 season.

Argonauts’ quarterback Chad Kelly threw a touchdown pass with less than two minutes left to lift Toronto over Montreal 35-27. Redblacks’ rookie Dustin Crum scored a walk-off touchdown to cap an improbable 19-point fourth-quarter comeback versus Winnipeg 31-28. Veteran kicker Rene Paredes hit a 50-yard field goal on the final play in a 33-31 win at Mosaic Stadium.

The Stampeders last-second win over the Roughriders produced the highest-rated English language broadcast so far in 2023. What was most notable was the game pulled in more people in the 25-54 age demographic (230,900) compared to the Blue Jays (228,700) on the same day.

The Major League Baseball All-Star break made for wide-open Thursday sports viewing and the CFL took advantage with the Tiger-Cats and Elks drew nearly 600,000 eyeballs despite the 9 p.m. eastern time kickoff. The Jays returned to action on Friday night and produced 1,050,700 viewers for Sportsnet. The Argos went head-to-head against Canada’s only MLB team and did reasonably well. The Blue Birds had 859,000 onlookers on Saturday afternoon and that game finished in time for Crum to take centre stage on Canadian television.

The three-down league has seen a 46 percent increase in its average weekly English TV ratings from Week 1 to Week 6 and a 41 percent jump with French included.

2023 Week 6 TV ratings:

Thursday
Hamilton at Edmonton — 578,800

Friday
Toronto at Montreal — TSN 480,200 and RDS 169,900 (650,100 total)

Saturday
Winnipeg at Ottawa — 490,800
Calgary at Saskatchewan — 721,600

Total Week 5 average: 567,850 (French included: 610,325)

[jerrym]

After six consecutive weeks of increasing CFL viewership, the number of viewers fell but still averaged over 500,000. Only the Rider game topped Toronto's game against Hamilton in viewers. The Toronto game also had the most 25-54 age viewers, the key advertising demographic.

It finished with a barnburner at McMahon Stadium as the Redblacks became the first team in CFL history to record consecutive overtime wins led by rookie quarterback Dustin Crum. However, Ottawa’s showdown with the Stampeders ended up being the lowest-rated game of the four with just under a half-million onlookers.

The Canadian women’s soccer team opened its 2023 World Cup Thursday night at 10:30 p.m. eastern time, drawing 1,499,700 eyeballs on TSN and CTV. That scoreless tie with Nigeria provided some competition for the CFL’s Thursday nighter, Elks vs. Blue Bombers.

There was no head-to-head competition throughout the weekend for the three-down league from Canada’s Major League Baseball team because the Blue Jays started at 10:10 p.m. ET on Friday night in Seattle and 4:10 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday. That timing surely helped the CFL attract more attention in its timeslots on the same days.

The Argonauts and Tiger-Cats rivalry game had the most viewers in the 25-54 age demographic of any CFL game in Week 7 with 220,600. Edmonton and Winnipeg had 171,500 in the same category while the Redblacks and Stamps pulled 166,300 with the Roughriders and Lions getting 163,600.
2023 Week 7 TV ratings:
Thursday Edmonton at Winnipeg — 517,200

Friday Toronto at Hamilton — 563,500

Saturday Saskatchewan at B.C. — 574,600

Sunday Ottawa at Calgary — 499,100

Total Week 7 average: 538,600

https://3downnation.com/2023/07/26/w...ers-in-week-7/

[bannedforlife]

Randy Ambrosie touts near 24 percent rise in key TV age demographic as Touchdown Atlantic anchors Week 8 on TSN
Justin Dunk 3downnation.com August 2, 2023

The Canadian Football League has caught some attention from younger sports fans across the country. League commissioner Randy Ambrosie provided the facts during an interview with 3DownNation at Touchdown Atlantic in Halifax, N.S.

“The number that we’re really excited about is the 25-54 category, which is a really important demographic, that’s up almost 24 percent. That’s really good for us. There’s a lot of bright spots, excited about the success we’re having and we just want to build on it,” Ambrosie said.

The matchup between the Roughriders and Argonauts at Huskies Stadium on campus at Saint Mary’s University led the way in the key age demo with an average audience of 225,400. Hamilton’s win over Ottawa on Friday Night Football had 195,100 in the same category, while 176,000 (105,100 English and 70,900 French) tuned in for the Alouettes’ victory over the Stampeders and 156,900 tuned in for the Elks’ 21st straight home loss.

Most notable from Week 8, the LCF drew its biggest French language audience season to date on RDS. Nearly a quarter-million watched en francais compared to when the Als played in the first six weeks of the year: Week 1, 174,000; Week 3, 210,000; Week 4, 200,600; Week 5, 215,500; and Week 6, 169,900.

During the glory days of the franchise with Anthony Calvillo leading the team at quarterback, the Alouettes consistently averaged between 200,000 and 300,000 viewers on RDS. That was back in the days before streaming was prevalent, so it seems Montreal is performing well in the market given the context of TV ratings from the Calvillo days.

2023 Week 8 TV ratings:

Friday
Hamilton at Ottawa — 481,100

Saturday
Saskatchewan at Toronto — 569,300
B.C. at Edmonton — 508,100

Sunday
Calgary at Montreal — TSN 388,200 and RDS 246,000 (634,200 total
Total Week 8 average: 486,675 (French included: 548,175)

[Mocha]

I'm curious to see what Sunday's ratings were. Here are those from week 9. The Argos-Stamps game did not draw so well.

2023 Week 9 TV ratings:

Thursday
B.C. at Winnipeg — 546,700

Friday
Toronto at Calgary — 448,000

Saturday
Montreal at Hamilton — TSN 478,200 and RDS 142,100 (620,300 total)

Sunday
Ottawa at Saskatchewan — 629,700

Total Week 9 average: 525,650 (French included: 561,175)

https://3downnation.com/2023/08/09/august-long-weekend-helps-cfl-record-best-sunday-night-english-tv-ratings-so-far-in-2023/

And just for fun, here are last year's Week 9 ratings:
2022 Week 9 TV ratings:
Thursday
Winnipeg at Montreal — 475,600
Friday
Calgary at Ottawa — 337,300
Saturday
Hamilton at Toronto — 378,800
Edmonton at B.C. — 499,000
Total Week 9 average: 422,675

[Mocha]

2023 Week 10 TV ratings:
Thursday
Winnipeg at Edmonton — 648,000
Friday
Saskatchewan at Montreal — TSN 525,700 and RDS 179,600 (705,300 total)
Saturday
Calgary at B.C. — 483,500
Sunday
Ottawa at Toronto — 550,000
Total Week 10 average: 551,800 (French included: 596,700)

https://3downnation.com/2023/08/16/c...n-tsn-in-2023/


2022 Week 10 TV ratings:
Thursday
Montreal at Winnipeg — 591,900
Friday
Toronto at Hamilton — 433,900
Saturday
B.C. at Calgary — 454,400
Saskatchewan at Edmonton — 610,200
Total Week 10 average: 522,600

[jerrym]

TV ratings and a lot of other things have improved dramatically this year as the CFL continues to climb out of the hole created by Covid.

There’s plenty of good stuff for the league to toot its horn about. But, there are still plenty of issues that are concerning, things like attendance in some of the CFL’s key markets. Plus, there’s the relationship with Genius Sports that has been filled with potholes.

League-wide ratings in the age 25-54 demographic have increased by 29 per cent year-over-year through Week 11. More than 8.8 million unique individuals have watched a CFL broadcast on TSN and another 1.9 million have watched a CFL broadcast on RDS.Said Ambrosie, the CFL commissioner: “The game itself is the driving force behind the viewership, but we’ve been doing a lot of work building a new foundation, building new marketing platforms, building a greater capability in the social media space and building this fan engagement strategy and all kinds of tools to help welcome fans, old and new.

“The trend lines are all so very positive. With the disruption called COVID, we hit a reset. We changed the way we operate. We made some big investments in ourselves.”

Also, from the press release: Average game-day revenue for the Toronto Argonauts, BC Lions and Montreal Alouettes is up 26 per cent year-over-year through Week 10. Viewership for games involving at least one of these three teams is up 27 per cent in the 25-54 demographic through Week 11.

“It was’t that long ago if I did an interview, one of the first or second questions referenced a concern about our major markets,” said Ambrosie. “Today, the three major markets are good-news stories. Not any of those three (ownership groups), Pierre Karl (Peladeau, Montreal), MLSE (Toronto) or Amar Doman (B.C.), would say it’s where they want to be, they know there’s still work to do, but there’s a really positive vibe (in all three markets).

“They’re doing so many things in Toronto. They’re seeing an increase in ticket sales, merchandise sales. The same thing in Montreal and B.C. There’s been an almost seismic shift in B.C. with Amar and his personal commitment to getting the Lions to be that community team. I was walking through the airport (in Vancouver) a few weeks ago and I was stopped five times by people asking if I was there for the game. That wasn’t always the case.”

In the press release as well: The number of fan engagements on league social media channels is up 30 per cent, page views on the CFL website are up 11 per cent, and views on the CFL’s YouTube page are up 10 per cent year-over-year through Week 11. Additional investments in CFL digital properties have also yielded increased consumption. Downloads of the CFL’s podcast, The Waggle, have increased 23 per cent, while fans are going to the CFL’s revamped and redesigned Game Zone, taking part in the league’s interactive gaming experiences with an increase of 179 per cent.

https://ottawacitizen.com/sports/foo...oadcast on RDS.

[jerrym]

Week 11 produced the highest CFL TV ratings in 2023 in the Riders win over BC.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders pulling off a stunner in primetime on a sweet Sunday night at Mosaic Stadium caught the attention of Rider Nation and CFL fans across the country.

Over 750,000 average viewers tuned in on television, which made the game the highest-rated contest of the 2023 season to date. It was the fifth time a CFL broadcast crested the 700,000 mark this year. ...
1) Week 11, B.C. at Saskatchewan — TSN 756,700
2) Week 4, Winnipeg at Montreal — TSN+RDS 735,000 total
3) Week 6, Calgary at Saskatchewan — TSN 721,600
4) Week 10, Saskatchewan at Montreal — TSN+RDS 705,300 total
5) Week 5, Montreal at B.C. — TSN+RDS 704,500 total ...


2023 Week 11 TV ratings:
Thursday Edmonton at Hamilton — 337,600

Friday Winnipeg at Calgary — 558,500

Saturday Montreal at Ottawa — 347,200 TSN and 206,600 RDS for 553,800 total

Sunday B.C. at Saskatchewan — 756,700

Total Week 11 average: 500,000 (French included: 551,650)

https://3downnation.com/2023/08/23/r...ating-in-2023/

[Mocha]

Interestng that Week 11 saw big drops last year and this year.

[Mocha]

[Mocha]

Here are last year's numbers for comparison's sake.

2022 Week 11 TV ratings:

Friday
Edmonton at Ottawa — 338,700
B.C. at Saskatchewan — 658,200

Saturday
Hamilton at Montreal — 227,900
Calgary at Toronto — 306,500

Total Week 11 average: 382,285

Week 11 produced the highest CFL TV ratings in 2023 in the Riders win over BC.



https://3downnation.com/2023/08/23/r...ating-in-2023/

[Will]

This are looking much better this season.

[Mocha]

A down week with no Riders game. But still up from last year this time.

[Mocha]

2023 Week 12 TV ratings:

Thursday
Montreal at Winnipeg — TSN 530,400 and RDS 178,300 for 708,700 total

Friday
Calgary at Toronto — 534,200

Saturday
Hamilton at B.C. — 458,400

Sunday
Ottawa at Edmonton — 449,900

Total Week 12 average: 493,225 (French included: 537,800)

https://3downnation.com/2023/08/30/blue-bombers-beatdown-attracts-largest-cfl-television-audience-in-week-12/

Last year's numbers for comparison:

2022 Week 12 TV ratings:

Thursday
Calgary at Winnipeg — 417,000

Friday
Hamilton at Toronto — 396,000
Saskatchewan at B.C. — 628,000

Saturday
Ottawa at Edmonton — 354,000

Total Week 12 average: 448,750

["Issues"Mcgee]

Argos are consistently breaking 500k viewership this season, which is a significant improvement over last season.

I've noticed a wider variety of commercials during Argos and CFL games in general, which is a good sign.

I'm hoping an Argos game will make the 700k club before the regular season is over.

[ArgoRavi]

Argos are consistently breaking 500k viewership this season, which is a significant improvement over last season.

I've noticed a wider variety of commercials during Argos and CFL games in general, which is a good sign.

I'm hoping an Argos game will make the 700k club before the regular season is over.

There is no doubt that interest in the Argos is higher this season which is a very positive sign.

[Mocha]

I wish the Argos-Ticats game (466,600) had garnered higher ratings, but still a strong week for the league overall. And even the Argos-Ticats number is up more than 40% over last year's LDC.