The Great Canadian Ratings Report: Rio Olympics start slow but picking up for CBC

Based on media coverage leading up to the Rio Olympics, the average person couldn't have been blamed if he or she thought these would be the least-watched, least-attended, most-pestilent, most-sewage-filled Games in history.

Well, here we are barely a few days in and there's been no sign of Zika virus, attendance has been anything but awful and while nobody's drinking the water in Guanabara Bay, nobody's dying from it, either. (Then again, it is early.)

As for interest, things aren't looking as good as CBC had hoped, but they aren't as bad as many predicted and they are heading in the right direction.  Using prime-time ratings as a measuring stick, CBC and its junior sidekicks Sportsnet and TSN averaged 2.7 million viewers over the first weekend.

Four years ago, the CTV-Rogers consortium averaged 2.8 million in prime time from London over the first weekend. CBC is down a bit from that, though the CBC numbers should almost automatically be higher considering that Rio has given the public broadcaster a big advantage: its prime-time broadcasts feature actual live competitions while CTV had to settle for taped coverage in the evenings.

But still, considering the dire predictions, that isn't bad. At least CBC is doing better than its American counterpart. Things aren't looking so rosy for NBC, which again has been hit with complaints about tape-delayed coverage and other issues.

The only real black mark to date for CBC was produced by the opening ceremonies, which averaged 4.4 million viewers on CBC's English and French networks. That was down a whopping 31 per cent from what the CTV-Rogers consortium drew for the London opener.

Making direct comparisons is almost impossible, since the last Olympics were held in London and most of the action took place during the daytime. But based on early returns, things are heading in the right direction: Sunday's audiences were up 61 per cent from Saturday's, no doubt fuelled by medal chances -- and actual medals.

CBC also reports that its digital portals generated 23.9 million page views and 3.8 million video views. I'm not entirely sure if that really means anything, but it sounds impressive.

Where things go from here will depend on Canadian success. The high-water mark so far came Sunday when an average of 3.4 million viewers watched Penny Oleksiak win a silver in the pool.

More medals will stir Canadian hearts and ratings will rise. But even without more medals, a successful start has probably already spelled success for this Olympics as a TV property.

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

1. Rio Olympics, Opening Ceremonies, Friday, CBC/TSN/Sportsnet: 3,365,000

2. Rio Olympics, Prime Time coverage, Sunday, CBC/TSN/Sportsnet: 2,950,000

3. Rio Olympics, Daytime coverage, Sunday, CBC/TSN/Sportsnet: 2,050,000

4. Rio Olympics, Prime Time coverage, Saturday, CBC/TSN/Sportsnet: 1,830,000

5. Rio Olympics, Afternoon coverage, Saturday, CBC/TSN/Sportsnet: 1,670,000

6. Rio Olympics, Pacific Prime Time, Sunday, CBC/TSN/Sportsnet: 1,330,000

7. Rio Olympics, Morning coverage, Sunday, CBC/TSN/Sportsnet: 1,280,000

8. MLB, Blue Jays at Royals, Friday, Sportsnet: 1,200,000

9. MLB, Blue Jays at Royals, Saturday, Sportsnet: 1,180,000

9. Rio Olympics, Morning coverage, Saturday, CBC/TSN/Sportsnet: 1,180,000

11. MLB, Blue Jays at Royals, Sunday, Sportsnet: 858,000

12. Rio Olympics, Pacific Prime Time, Saturday, CBC/Sportsnet/TSN: 780,000

13. CFL, Eskimos at Redblacks, Saturday, TSN: 520,000

14. Auto racing, NASCAR Cheez-it 355, Sunday, TSN: 197,000

15. Hockey, World Junior Showcase, Canada vs. Sweden, Friday, TSN: 130,000

16. UFC, Rodriguez vs. Caceres, Saturday, TSN: 127,000

THREE TO WATCH

Hoops and dreams: Canada's women's basketball team has looked impressive so far in Rio and they get another chance to show that they're for real on Wednesday against Senegal (4:45 p.m. ET, CBC.)

English breakfast: For those who prefer their soccer without Olympic rings, the English Premier League kicks off (literally) its season this week. TSN5 has Hull City and Leicester (Saturday, 7 a.m. ET) while Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet World have three games starting at 9:30 a.m.

Making Jays while the sun shines: The Blue Jays continue to battle for first place in the AL East with a homestand against Tampa Bay (until Wednesday) followed by Houston starting Friday (7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet.)