The Great Canadian Ratings Report: NFL championship game breaks viewing record

Sunday was a perfect storm for the NFL and TV networks on both sides of the border cashed in.

A much-hyped showdown between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to start the day followed by a thrilling down-to-the-last-second battle between San Francisco and Seattle produced record ratings for CTV and huge numbers in the U.S.

The late game attracted an average audience of almost 2.7 million in Canada, the most ever for an NFL playoff game outside the Super Bowl. Not only were ratings up 45 per cent over last year's NFC final, but the game also managed to beat out a pretty good Montreal-Toronto matchup on Hockey Night In Canada. (For the record, HNIC's prime-time Saturday game gets beaten in the weekend ratings about as often as the Leafs make the playoffs.)

The Manning-Brady showdown, which didn't quite live up to the hype (surprise!), drew 2.2 million viewers -- just below the hockey game's 2.4 million.

But as impressive as those NFL numbers were, they also highlight just how much more the game dominates television in the U.S. The games drew 56 and 51 million viewers on Fox and CBS, which is more than 20 times the Canadian audiences. Considering that the U.S. has 10 times the population, that translate that into twice the proportional interest.

When it comes to the U.S., nothing touches the NFL.

This all bodes well for CTV, which can expect a huge Super Bowl audience. If the game is competitive, it could break last year's mark of 6.6 million viewers.

There were three events that got lost in the shuffle thanks to the NFL. One was CBC's annual couch-testing Hockey Day In Canada marathon, which produced 13 hours of strong ratings. In addition to the 2.4 million for the Leafs-Habs game, 1.4 million watched the WWE-inspired game between Calgary and Vancouver while 926,000 caught the mid-afternoon split broadcast.

Numbers for the non-game part of the day were also strong, with the late-afternoon session pulling in 359,000 viewers.

Second was the Toronto Raptors, who are starting to gain some ratings traction thanks to a pretty impressive run of victories. Both Friday and Sunday games drew in 247,000 viewers to TSN, which has seen a 64 per cent increase in audiences since the Raptors started to turn things around.

Third was Eugenie Bouchard's Australian Open quarterfinal win on Monday night, which attracted an average audience of 406,000 viewers. TSN reports that a total of 1.6 million watched some or all of the match.

Here are the most-watched sports events on Canadian television over the past weekend, according to BBM Canada overnight ratings:

1. NFL, 49ers at Seahawks, Sunday, CTV: 2,664,000

2. NHL, Canadiens at Leafs, Saturday, CBC: 2,439,000

3. NFL, Patriots at Broncos, Sunday, CTV: 2,219,000

4. NHL, Flames at Canucks, Saturday, CBC: 1,378,000

5. NHL, Rangers-Sens/Oilers-Jets, Saturday, CBC: 926,000

6. Curling, Continental Cup skins (afternoon), Sunday, TSN: 435,000

7. Curling, Continental Cup women's (afternoon), Saturday, TSN: 431,000

8. Tennis, Australian Open women's quarterfinal, Monday, TSN: 406,000

9. Curling, Continental Cup skins (evening), Sunday, TSN: 381,000

10. NHL, Hockey Day in Canada (late), Saturday, CBC: 359,000

11. Curling, Continental Cup mixed doubles, Saturday, TSN: 353,000

12. Curling, Continetal Cup men's, Saturday, TSN: 344,000

13. Curling, Continental Cup men's, Friday, TSN: 293,000

14. Soccer, Man U at Chelsea, Sunday, TSN: 290,000

15. Curling, Continental Cup, singles, Friday, TSN: 268,000

16. NBA, Lakers at Raptors, Sunday, TSN: 247,000

17. NBA, T-Wolves at Raptors, Friday, TSN: 247,000

18. Curling, Continental Cup women's, Friday, TSN: 202,000

19. NHL, Hockey Day in Canada (early), Saturday, CBC: 201,000

30. Soccer, Aston Villa at Liverpool, Saturday, Sportsnet: 196,000

21. Soccer, Fulham at Arsenal, Saturday, Sportsnet: 135,000

22. Snowboarding, World Cup, Sunday, CBC: 107,000

THREE TO WATCH

Vince's last stand: The prodigal returns, possibly for the last time, as Vince Carter and the Dallas Mavericks play the surging Raptors at the ACC. Toronto fans have memories like elephants when it comes to slights real and perceived, so expect loud booing every time the former Raptor touches the ball. If that's not enough Vinsanity for you, right after the game ends there's a special on Carter's career here and how it all went wrong. Wednesday, 7 p.m. EST, Sportsnet.

The wizards of Oz: The first big tennis tournament of the season winds up on the weekend with Montreal wunderkind Eugenie Bouchard the first Canadian women to get to the semifinals in 30 years. The 19-year-old meets Li Na in a semifinal match on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. EST. The women's final is Saturday at 3 a.m. EST, with a less sadistic replay time of 12:30 p.m.,The men go at it for the trophy at 3 a.m. Sunday, with a replay at noon. All are on TSN.

24.7, sort of: The NHL has fallen in love with the outdoors and has decided to accompany its four remaining al fresco games this year with another version of HBO's 24/7 series. The league and NBC are promising all access for NHL Revealed: A Season Like No Other as well as an all-access look at the Olympics during a 13-part series. It debuts Thursday at 9 p.m. on CBC and continues Sunday, 7 p.m. EST, Sportsnet Ontario and East.