Marking the end of a prolonged break in play, Canadian sports fans returned in droves this weekend to watch the long-awaited debut of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers and NBA, exclusively on Sportsnet. Bolstered by hard-hitting Canadian NHL matchups and a dominant Raptors performance, Sportsnet reached a total of 10.7 million viewers on Saturday and Sunday – connecting with 29% of the Canadian population.
Beginning on Saturday at Noon ET / 9 a.m. PT, Sportsnet aired more than 33 hours of live coverage across its TV channels, CBC, Citytv, the Sportsnet Radio Network and via stream on SN NOW and NHL LIVE. Scoring a 19% audience share, Sportsnet’s wall-to-wall coverage garnered a combined average minute audience of 821,000 viewers on Saturday and Sunday.
Overall, in the coveted Adult 25-54 demographic, Sportsnet was home to 8 of the Top 10 most-watched programs of the weekend.
In addition to TV audiences, sports fans also started more than 2 million streams on SN NOW and NHL Live, Sportsnet’s exclusive live streaming platforms.
Below is a snapshot of Sportsnet’s NHL and NBA audiences from this past Saturday and Sunday:
NHL on Sportsnet
As the exclusive national English-language home of the NHL, Sportsnet aired all 10 Stanley Cup Qualifier and Round Robin matchups over the weekend, live from Edmonton and Toronto. Overall, 9.58 million Canadians watched all or some of the NHL on Sportsnet broadcasts on Saturday and Sunday. Audience breakdowns of the Canadian team matchups are as follows:
Saturday
- Chicago Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers (3 p.m. ET / Noon PT | Sportsnet, SN NOW & NHL Live)
- Average minute audience: 856,000
- Total reach: 2.8 million
- Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT | Sportsnet, CBC, SN NOW & NHL Live)
- Average minute audience: 1.6 million
- Total reach: 5.7 million
- Winnipeg Jets vs. Calgary Flames (10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT | Sportsnet, CBC, SN NOW & NHL Live)
- Average minute audience: 1.66 million
- Total reach: 3.9 million
Sunday
- Columbus Blue Jackets @ Toronto Maple Leafs (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT | Sportsnet, SN NOW & NHL Live)
- Average minute audience: 1.78 million
- Total reach: 4.4 million
- Minnesota Wild @ Vancouver Canucks (10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT | Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360, SN NOW & NHL Live)
- Average minute audience: 798,000
- Total reach: 3.1 million
Raptors on Sportsnet
The North re-launched their title defence on Saturday night, exclusively on Sportsnet ONE, Citytv and SN NOW. Delivering every minute of the Raptors’ dominant performance over LeBron James and the L.A. Lakers, Sportsnet reached 2.59 million fans coast-to-coast-to-coast throughout the evening.
From tip-off at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT to the final buzzer, Sportsnet’s exclusive coverage garnered an average minute audience of 890,000 Canadians making it the second most-watched regular season Raptors broadcast ever on Sportsnet.
Sportsnet is Canada’s one-stop shop for the return of live sports, with exclusive coverage of the road to the Stanley Cup Final and the full Toronto Blue Jays regular season, plus key Toronto Raptors matchups. Full broadcast details of Sportsnet’s multiplatform coverage of the NHL, MLB and NBA is available online at sportsnet.ca/schedule/.
