It was a seismic shift on the Canadian television landscape last thursday when the fourth season premiere of THE BIG BANG THEORY exploded to its largest audience ever in its new Thursday night timeslot on CTV. With 3.11 million viewers, THE BIG BANG THEORY not only won Night 4 of Premiere Week and became the most-watched program overall of the week in Canada, but goes down in the record books as the second-most watched comedy broadcast ever in Canada. With the addition of Thursday’s audiences for THE MENTALIST (2.64 million) and GREY’S ANATOMY (2.53 million), plus Wednesday’s CRIMINAL MINDS (2.64 million), CTV now lays claims to four of the Top 5 most-watched programs of Premiere Week. All are available now, on demand, on the CTV Video Player at CTV.ca.
The record-breaking audience for THE BIG BANG THEORY follows an extensive cross-promotional campaign, which included street-level events in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver yesterday; national print, radio, outdoor and online advertising; and a special programming stunt last Thursday that saw five episodes broadcast back-to-back to reinforce the Thursday move.
THE BIG BANG THEORY powered CTV to an incredible night Thursday, winning every individual hour from 7-11 p.m. not only in total viewers, but with the three key adult demos as well. A quick ratings snapshot of last night reveals that:
At 7 p.m.
• Justin Bieber’s acting debut on CSI resulted in 1.86 million viewers out of simulcast on CTV to win the timeslot nationally and in Toronto/Calgary/Vancouver with total viewers and A25-54.
At 8 p.m.
• THE BIG BANG THEORY delivered a 36% Share with A25-54 and A18-49, meaning more than one out of every three people watching television at 8 p.m. watched the premiere.*
• The episode now ranks as the #2 comedy broadcast in Canada ever, following the finale of FRIENDS, according to CTV records.
• More than double the audience of its next closest competitor, BONES (1.74 million, Global/FOX) in all three key demos.
At 8:30 p.m.
• The SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA Results Episode saw an increase of 28% in its new Thursday night timeslot compared to last week (940,000).
• The episode delivered nearly twice as many viewers as the season premiere of 30 ROCK (653,000; Citytv/NBC)
At 9 p.m.
• With 2.53 million viewers, GREY’S ANATOMY tripled the season premiere of THE OFFICE (888,000; Global/NBC) and OUTSOURCED (797,000; Global/NBC). The #3 program of the night overall, GREY’S ANATOMY won its timeslot nationally and in Toronto and Calgary with total viewers, A25-54 and A18-49.
At 10 p.m.
• With 2.64 million viewers, THE MENTALIST also tripled the audience of its nearest competitor THE APPRENTICE (789,000; Global/NBC) to become the #2 program of the night overall. THE MENTALIST won its timeslot in total viewers and key demos nationally and in Toronto/Calgary/Vancouver.
