The Great Canadian Ratings Report: Pan Am Games a big hit, so why isn't there more?

While many think that Canadians tend to look at the glass as half full, that stereotype isn't quite accurate. The truth is that we tend to look at the glass as pretty much empty.

Witness the general perception of the current Pan American Games being held across Southern Ontario. Ticket sales were pretty much considered a flop even before the virtual wickets opened. Empty venues were predicted and poor TV ratings were a foregone conclusion.

Well, here we are just a few days into the event and already the glass is basically overflowing. Ticket sales have picked up rapdily after the sight of a few gold medals had Canadians scrambling for their wallets.

And television? Well, CBC is pulling in unprecedented audiences for what many consider to be a second or third-rate sports event.

Friday's opening ceremonies averaged 1.6 million on CBC, with more than 5.5 million tuning in at some point. Weekend coverage produced big audiences, as well, with the top show almost hitting the million mark.

That's pretty impressive, considering that the Games were basically in their first day and there had been little time to create any medal-fuelled buzz.

And that doesn't include the 465,000 video views of the online weekend coverage, which dwarfed the television offerings.

Of course, Canadians not only like to look on the dark side of life but they also like to complain. So it was no surprise that there was plenty of griping that CBC was cheating the public with so few hours of TV coverage and so little live programming online.

You have to empathize with CBC on this one. First off, it was the only network that put in a serious bid for these Games. Secondly, it is showing more TV coverage from the Pan Ams than any Canadian network has ever shown. Thirdly, in addition to more than doubling the TV time from the 2011 Games in Mexico, it has added 650 hours of online coverage.

But, when Canada is winning buckets of medals at home, people want to watch. And in a world where almost everything is seemingly available somewhere, they believe they should be able to get it all.

``In a perfect world coverage of every moment would be available," said CBC spokesman Jeff Keay. ``But in reality, no network can do that. We can't make everybody happy."

People expect more from the CBC, because it is the taxpayer-funded national broadcaster. But this is where the CBC gets caught between a rock and a hard place: More coverage doesn't necessarily mean more revenue and it would take a blast from its critics for losing money. But those who pay for the network want to watch what they want to watch.

But considering the state of CBC Sports, which has been gutted by funding cuts and the loss of its NHL packages, it realistically couldn't even produce much more coverage. That's unfortunate because this is the kind of event that is tailor-made for the CBC.

Bringing amateur sports to Canadians is one of its mandates. And it certainly would be in the network's interests to push coverage considering that it has invested heavily in the Rio Olympics next year. It needs to give these athletes as much exposure as possible to get the ball rolling for the next Summer Games.

Keay said that the network is prepared to look at boosting its TV coverage, but it's hard to imagine more than a few hours tossed in here and there. The fact is that the world feed (interestingly, a CBC operation) is producing live coverage of only about a dozen events.

Should CBC provide more? In a perfect world, yes. Can it? Yes, but realistically not much more. Will it? Probably a few hours here and there, but nothing substantial.

After all, if ratings were the sole determining factor, there would be a lot more TV from the Calgary Stampede. The cowboys managed to outdraw the Blue Jays, some Pan Am coverage, a CFL game and a Wimbledon final on the weekend.

That glass certainly is half-full.

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

1. Pan Am Games, opening ceremonies, Friday, CBC: 1,636,000

2. Pan Am Games, prime time coverage, Saturday, CBC: 996,000

3. Pan Am Games, daily coverage, Sunday, CBC: 739,000

4. CFL, Roughriders at Lions, Friday, TSN: 633,000

6. MLB, Blue Jays at Royals, Sunday, Sportsnet: 629,000

7. Calgary Stampede, showdown, Sunday, CBC: 579,000

8. Calgary Stampede, rangeland derby, Saturday, CBC: 553,000

9. MLB, Blue Jays at Royals, Saturday, CBC: 522,000

10. Pan Am Games, afternoon coverage, Saturday, CBC: 505,000

11. CFL, Alouettes at Blue Bombers, Friday, TSN: 497,000

12. Calgary Stampede, championship, Sunday, CBC: 435,000

13. Tennis, Wimbledon men's final, Sunday, TSN: 419,000

14. MLB, Blue Jays at Royals, Friday, Sportsnet: 316,000 (rain delay)

15. Calgary Stampede, rodeo, Saturday, CBC: 312,000

16. Pan Am Games men's soccer, Canada vs. Brazil, Saturday, Sportsnet: 294,000

17. Pan Am Games women's soccer, Canada vs. Ecuador, Saturday, Sportsnet: 290,000

18. PGA, John Deere Classic final round, Sunday, Global: 250,000

19. Auto racing, NASCAR Quaker State 400, Saturday, TSN: 238,000

20. MLB, Yankees at Red Sox, Friday, Sportsnet: 228,000

21. Gold Cup soccer, Canada vs. Jamaica, Saturday, Sportsnet: 221,000

22. Tennis, Wimbledon ladies' final, Saturday, TSN: 194,000

23. Tennis, Wimbledon men's semifinals, Friday, TSN: 182,000

24. PGA, John Deere Classic third round, Saturday, Global: 146,000

25. MLS, Toronto FC at New York, Sunday, TSN: 138,000

26. Calgary Stampede, rangeland derby, Friday, Sportsnet One: 121,000

27. MMA, UFC 189 preliminaries, Saturday, TSN: 108,000

27. Auto racing, IndyCar Wisconsin 250, Sunday, Sportsnet One: 108,000

THREE TO WATCH

Starry, starry night: Baseball's annual midsummer classic still endures despite interleague play, online voting irregularities and the strange notion of making it actually mean something. There will be some added Canadian interest with the likes of Blue Jays Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin (an actual Canadian). Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET (Fox, Sportsnet.)

Jordan vs. The World: Young golf phenom Jordan Spieth will be in the spotlight at the annual battle in the fescue known as the Open Championship (or British Open as most people call it.) Coverage starts very early Thursday morning (4 a.m. ET, TSN.)

Revenge time: These early-season CFL games don't normally mean much in the grand scheme of things, but Friday's rematch between the B.C. Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders should not only be enertaining but rather important for the Riders. They haven't won a game yet and are still smarting from two straight overtime losses following late collapses, including last week's game in B.C. Friday, 10 p.m. ET, TSN.