The series premiere of the new CTV original series THE BRIDGE debuted #1 in its 9 p.m. timeslot in Canada Friday night on CTV, with one million viewers. THE BRIDGE becomes the most-watched series premiere for a Canadian drama this season, based on preliminary overnight data.* The audience peaked at 1.25 million viewers, with nearly 3.5 million Canadians tuning in to some part of the two-hour premiere. In Toronto, THE BRIDGE was the #1 series of the day with Viewers 2+ and Adults 25-54.
THE BRIDGE retained 87% of its 8 p.m. lead in, GHOST WHISPERER, which garnered 1.15 million viewers on CTV and CBS. Saturday’s encore broadcast on CTV attracted 364,000 viewers. Watch it online now at CTV.ca.
THE BRIDGE won both the 9 and 10 p.m. ET timeslots against SHARK TANK (ABC/Global; 536,000; 9-10 p.m.) and NUMB3RS (CBS/Global; 788,000; 10-11 p.m.) and delivered two-and-a-half times more viewers than the series premiere of WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE (NBC/City, 8-9 p.m. 398,000).
THE BRIDGE is the third CTV original series to premiere with a million or more viewers in the same week following the debuts of HICCUPS and DAN FOR MAYOR, both with 1.9 million viewers.
Frank Leo (Aaron Douglas) stands his ground as the new union representative on THE BRIDGE.
In this week’s episode if THE BRIDGE, entitled “The Fat Lady Sings the Blues” (Friday, March 12 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV) Frank (Aaron Douglas) is forced to hit the streets and play by the bad guys’ rules after a retired narcotics cop is found murdered.
Source: BBM Canada, unconfirmed overnight data
*Overnight data for the series premiere of CBC’s THE REPUBLIC OF DOYLE was 969,000 with a final audience of 1.009 million.
