The Great Canadian Ratings Report: World juniors just what doctor ordered for TSN

Just in time for the holiday season, there's a bit of Christmas cheer in TSN's stocking.

After falling behind hated rival and perennial runner-up Sportsnet in the ratings battle, TSN could use the kind of good news that the world junior hockey tournament provides every winter. That news came on the weekend when a meaningless pre-tournament game finished seventh in the sports ratings, outdrawing a Saturday night NFL game and the Raptors.

That's encouraging for TSN, which fully expects this year's tournament to come up short compared with last year's. That's because this event is in Helsinki, meaning none of the prime-time games that pushed the Canadian-based 2015 tournament to ratings heights.

Sunday's Canada-Czech Republic exhibition averaged 332,000 viewers -- down substantially from last December's highest-rated preliminary game between Canada and Russia (480,000 viewers.) But that game was at 8 p.m. ET on a Friday, a far better slot than Sunday's 10 a.m. slot. It also featured a much better matchup, what with the Czechs generally not evoking the same emotions as the Russians do.

How the world juniors do this time around depends on the usual factors: Will Canada make it to the gold medal game? Assuming so, will either Russia or the U.S. provide the competition? Will the games be competitive? Will a star (Mitch Marner) emerge?

Regardless, a solid rating for two weekend tune-up games (the one against Belarus averaged also outdrew the Raptors) might indicate that the time difference won't be as big a factor as it has been in the past.

TSN also had to be happy with its NBA offerings. On Friday, the Raptors drew a solid audience of 227,000 viewers and led into a Milwaukee-Golden State broadcast that was the second most-watched non-Raptors NBA game in TSN history (187,000.) Of course, the audience was inspired by Golden State's unbeaten streak, so this likely won't become the norm for NBA games.

While TSN is feeling good heading into the holidays, there have to be a few grim faces at Rogers. Its pricey NHL package continues to under-perform. Even with the Toronto Maple Leafs back in the picture on Saturday, Hockey Night In Canada's main game between the Leafs and LA Kings averaged only 1.4 million viewers -- the second lowest rating of the season.

The late game barely cracked the 500,000 mark and Sunday's Hometown Hockey match-up just squeaked by the junior exhibition game (343,000.) 

There are all kinds of possible explanations -- and, no, George Stroumboulopolous isn't one of them -- but regardless of the cause, these aren't the kinds of numbers Rogers was expecting when it shelled out $5.2 billion.

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

1. NHL, Kings-Leafs/Habs-Stars, Saturday, CBC-City: 1,400,000

2. NFL, Broncos-Steelers/Cowboys-Eagles/Packers-Raiders, Sunday, CTV: 963,000

3. NFL, Early games, Sunday, CTV: 717,000

4. NHL, Oilers at Avalanche, Saturday, CBC: 543,000

5. NHL, Canucks at Red Wings, Friday, Sportsnet: 383,000

6. NHL, Flames at Red Wings, Sunday, Sportsnet: 343,000

7. World junior hockey, Canada vs. Czech Republic, Sunday, TSN: 332,000

8. NHL, Rangers at Jets, Friday, TSN regional: 318,000

8. NFL, Jets at Cowboys, Saturday, Sportsnet One: 318,000

10. World junior hockey, Canada vs. Belarus, Saturday, TSN: 254,000

11. NFL, Cardinals at Eagles, Sunday, TSN: 231,000 (NBC audience not measured)

12. NBA, Raptors at Heat, Friday, TSN: 227,000

13. NHL, Blackhawks at Sabres, Saturday, Sportsnet East,  Ontario, Pacific: 208,000

14. NBA, Bucks at Warriors, Friday, TSN: 187,000

15. Figure skating, ISU Grand Prix, Sunday, CBC: 180,000

16. Mixed martial arts, UFC 17 preliminaries, Saturday, TSN: 179,000

17. Hockey, World Junior A Challenge, Saturday, TSN: 168,000

18. NHL, Sharks at Senators, Friday, TSN regional: 160,000

18. Equestrian, Championship Show Jumping, Saturday, CBC: 160,000

20. Luge, World Cup, Saturday, CBC: 136,000

21. CHL, Kootenay at Red Deer, Friday, Sportsnet: 133,000

22. Soccer, Tottenham at Southampton, Saturday, TSN: 119,000

23. NBA, Kings at Raptors, Sunday, Sportsnet One: 118,000

24. Soccer, Norwich at Manchester United, Saturday, Sportsnet: 100,000

25. Skiing, FIS World Cup, Saturday, CBC: 80,000

THREE TO WATCH

Christmas presence: In a nod to Christians celebrating the birth of their saviour, the NBA is once again offering a full slate of games on Christmas Day. Things get rolling at noon ET with New Orleans at Miami and wind up with the Clippers and Lakers tangling at 10:30 p.m. ET. Christmas dinner might get squeezed in there somewhere. The first three games are on ABC and Sportsnet while the last two are on TSN.

Holiday tradition: In the U.S., the holiday sports tradition focuses on college football. Here, it's all about the world junior hockey championship, starting with a Boxing Day opener that's become as much a part of the season as turkey overdoses. This year's event in Helsinki opens with four games starting at 7 a.m. ET. The highlight will be Canada's game against the rival U.S. (1 p.m. ET, TSN.)

Boxing Day kicks:  If the sight of pimply-faced teenagers playing hockey isn't your thing, there's a full slate of soccer from the other side of the Atlantic starting at 9:30 a.m. on Sportsnet and TSN have all the action starting at 7:45 a.m. ET.