The Great Canadian Ratings Report: Curling stands its ground against NFL, NHL

Okay, so it's hardly big news that curling draws big television audiences in Canada.

But usually the big ratings are reserved for the likes of the Brier, Tournament of Hearts and Olympics. So it's noteworthy and newsworthy when a manufactured event like last weekend's all-star skins game puts up big numbers against the toughest competition of the winter: Hockey Night In Canada and two NFL conference finals.

For example, the men's semifinal coverage on Saturday night attracted an average audience of 430,000 viewers. That's nothing spectacular in itself, but quite impressive when you consider that it went head-to-head with the Saturday night NHL games.

Then came Sunday's women's final, which averaged 579,000 viewers even though it was played at the same time as the week's most-watched event: the Green Bay-Seattle NFL game. The men's final, which ran up against the Indianapolis-New England game, averaged an impressive 521,000 viewers.

The men's final also easily outdrew the Sunday night hockey game on City, which managed 425,000 viewers. Apparently, contrary to stereotype, a lot of Canadians prefer brooms to sticks.

Overall, the skins game was a big hit for TSN, which is enjoying a pretty good January despite being basically NHL-free. The world juniors drew huge numbers and curling's three days of competition produced ratings 40 per cent bigger than last year's event.

The skins game averaged 461,000 viewers with round-the-clock coverage.

The weekend was a good one for Bell Media, with the NFL games attracting huge audiences. The early Sunday game, boosted by a wild finish and overtime, averaged 2.3 million viewers -- the kind of audience HNIC does on a good Saturday. Bell says it was the most-watched afternoon conference final in history and the most-watched Canadian television show last week.

Here are the most-watched English-language sports events from the past weekend, according to Numeris overnight ratings:

1. NFL, Packers at Seahawks, Sunday, CTV: 2,340,000

2. NHL, Leafs-Blues/Isles-Habs/Oilers-Panthers/Canes-Sens, Saturday, CBC-Rogers: 1,900,000

2. NFL, Colts at Patriots, Sunday, CTV: 1,900,000

4. NHL, Flames-Sharks/Ducks-Kings, Saturday, CBC-Rogers: 611,000

5. Curling, Skins Game women's final, Sunday, TSN: 579,000

6. NHL, Hockey Night In Canada pre-game, Saturday, CBC-Rogers: 565,000

7. Curling, Skins Game, Jones vs. Carey, Saturday, TSN: 543,000

8. Curling, Skins Game men's final, Sunday, TSN: 521,000

9. Curling, Skins Game, Jacobs vs. McEwen, Saturday, TSN: 430,000

10. NHL, Coyotes at Jets, Sunday, City: 425,000

11. NHL, Canucks at Hurricanes, Friday, Sportsnet: 382,000

12. Curling, Skins Game, Homan vs. Sweeting, Friday, TSN: 357,000

13. Curling, Skins Game, Morris vs. Koe, Saturday, TSN: 326,000

14. Soccer, Arsenal at Manchester City, Saturday, TSN: 276,000

15. NBA, Hawks at Raptors, Friday, TSN: 237,000

16. NHL, Rangers at Penguins, Sunday, Sportsnet: 200,000

17. Soccer, Manchester United at Queen's Park, Saturday, Sportsnet: 168,000

18. NHL, Hometown Hockey pre-game, Sunday, City: 167,000

19. Skiing, Freestyle world championships, Saturday, CBC: 159,000

20. Skiing, World Cup men's slalom, Saturday, CBC: 152,000

21. NBA, Pelicans at Raptors, Sunday, Sportsnet 360: 150,000

22. UFC, Siver vs. McGregor, Saturday, TSN: 134,000

23. Skiing, World Cup women's downhill, Saturday, CBC: 107,000

THREE TO WATCH

Hot prospects: This is a great time for fans of junior hockey, or at least fans of all those junior players who'll soon be playing in the NHL. The annual CHL-NHL Top Prospects Game features the best of the teenage set with Team Orr taking on Team Cherry. Thursday, 7 p.m. ET (Sportsnet.)

Starry, starry nights: Stars of a different flavour -- and higher income level -- take the spotlight with the NHL's annual all-star weekend. The best in the game -- well, the best that the arcane all-star rules allow -- will be at it all week, starting with the Phil Kessel memorial fantasy draft (Friday, 8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet), the skills competition (Saturday, 7 p.m., CBC) and the game itself (Sunday, 5 p.m. ET, CBC and NBC.)

Go figure: If you prefer your skating done by athletes with full sets of teeth and a sequin or two, the Canadian figure skating championships will provide plenty of that. The top figure skaters in the world will be in Kingston, Ont., all weekend. Coverage starts Friday (3 p.m. ET, TSN) and winds up with the pairs and ice dance competitions (Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, CTV.)