The Great Canadian Ratings Report: It's shaping up as a hot summer for Canadian sports TV

Sports television and Mark Twain have at least one thing in common: reports of their imminent demise were greatly exaggerated.

With the death knell ringing for televised sports in many circles, a casual observer might be thinking that these are indeed dark days for those both in front of and behind the cameras.

Twain eventually did succumb and who knows how much longer sports will continue to bring home the bacon for the TV folks. But they're still looking pretty good.

While things aren't looking quite as rosy as they used to, it's certainly been a pretty good summer for Canada's sports networks and for the sports they broadcast.

(And, by the way, when we say that things aren't quite as rosy as they used to be, we mean that instead of storing their cash in warehouses, the likes of Rogers and Bell Media are now reduced to using empty office buildings. For proof, read David Shoalts' report this week  in the Globe and Mail.)

Let's take a look at what happened over the weekend:

1) The Wimbledon men's final set a record for tennis viewing in Canada with an average of 1.2 million watching Andy Murray defeat Canadian Milos Raonic on TSN and another 392,000 tuning in to RDS to witness it en francais. The previous record was 823,000 set two years ago.

2) Saturday's UFC preliminaries became the most-watched non-pay-per-view UFC event ever with an average audience of 514,000 on TSN and 66,000 on RDS.

3) The CFL scored some big audiences -- the best was Friday's Saskatchewan-Edmonton game with a combined TSN-RDS audience of 784,000 -- as the 2016 season has started out showing a 10 per cent increase over last year.

4) The Toronto Blue Jays continue to draw big audiences, with each weekend game against Detroit averaging more than 1 million viewers on Sportsnet. That raises the number of million-plus games to 30, 28 more than there were at this time last season.

5) Furthermore, the Jays' success is driving improved ratings across the board at Sportsnet. Blue Jays Central is averaging 211,000 viewers this year, up 40 per cent from 2015. The Tim and Sid show also has seen a 40 per cent increase, while ratings at Sportsnet 590 The Fan have soared 86 per cent in its target age bracket (adults 25 to 54.)

6) Sunday's Euro final averaged 1.9 million viewers on TSN and another 513,000 on RDS to XXXX. While that total was down 19 per cent from the 2012 final (3 million viewers on TSN and RDS), viewership for the tournament was up overall.

While ratings are generally heading the other way, this is shaping up as a pretty hot summer for Canada's sports broadcasters. Add in next month's Olympics, which always draw well, and a continued run by the Blue Jays and this could be a summer to remember for the networks.

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

1. Euro soccer, Portugal vs. France, Sunday, TSN: 1,900,000

2. MLB, Tigers at Blue Jays, Friday, Sportsnet: 1,260,000

3. Tennis, Wimbledon men's final, Sunday, TSN: 1,200,000

4. MLB, Tigers at Blue Jays, Saturday, Sportsnet: 1,150,000

5. MLB, Tigers at Blue Jays, Sunday, Sportsnet: 1,120,000

6. CFL, Roughriders at Eskimos, Friday, TSN: 769,000

7. CFL, Stampeders at RedBlacks, Friday, TSN: 518,000

8. MMA, UFC 200 preliminaries, Saturday, TSN: 514,000

9. Tennis, Wimbledon men's semifinal, Friday, TSN: 465,000

10. Calgary Stampede, rangeland derby, Saturday, CBC: 307,000

11. MLB, Rays at Red Sox, Saturday, Sportsnet: 292,000

12. Auto racing, F1 British Grand Prix, Sunday, TSN: 241,000

13. Equestrian, Spruce Meadows show jumping, Saturday, CBC: 186,000

14. Calgary Stampede, opening parade, Saturday, CBC: 164,000

15. MLB, Padres at Dodgers, Sunday, Sportsnet: 163,000

16. Calgary Stampede, rangeland derby, Friday, CBC: 158,000

17. MLB, Nationals at Mets, Saturday, Sportsnet: 150,000

18. Auto racing, NASCAR Quaker State 400, Sunday, TSN: 149,000

19. Calgary Stampede, rodeo, Saturday, Sportsnet One: 127,000

20. Calgary Stampede, rodeo, Sunday, Sportsnet One: 125,000

21. Calgary Stampede, rangeland derby, Sunday, CBC: 123,000

22. Equestrian, Spruce Meadows show jumping, Sunday, CBC: 119,000

THREE TO WATCH

Starry, starry night: There will be plenty for Canadians to cheer about during this year's Major League Baseball All-Star Game, what with four Blue Jays on the field and a fifth (Marco Estrada) on the team but at home recovering from an aching back. Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnaction, Aaron Sanchez and Michael Saunders will try to get the American League that all-important home-field advantage in the World Series (7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet and Fox.)

A Troon test of golf: There's nothing quite like Britain's Open Championship to get the world's best golfers whining and griping about the weather, the rough and maybe even the quality of the haggis. They'll all start trying to defeat Royal Troon on Thursday (1:30 a.m., Golf Channel.) TSN and NBC pick it up on the weekend.

Vroom for more: Canada's second-biggest auto race takes place Sunday with the annual Honda Indy through the twists and turns of Toronto's Exhibition Place. Homebreds James Hinchcliffe and Alex Tagliani will try to give a Canadian flavour to the victory circle (Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet.)