The Brioux Report: CBC and TSN see second round slump for Stanley Cup ratings

With Canucks out, can anyone win?

With Vancouver, Ottawa, Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Chicago all out of the hunt, ratings for the Stanley Cup playoffs have been slammed into the boards. Afternoon games are also denting CBC’s playoff coverage, forcing them to air more reruns in prime time as season finales start popping up on other channels.

This is good news for shows like The Amazing Race and Survivor, both as robust as ever in the ratings. Dancing with the Stars continues to have legs, too.

Here’s how all it all played out across Canada in prime time among adults 2+ the week of April 23 to 29 according to overnight estimates:

MONDAY

Rangers and Ottawa drew 2,510,000 hockey fans to CBC. The public broadcaster must hate losing those two Canadian teams to round one exits.

Bones began Global’s night with 1,539,000 counted in the overnight estimates. A new House drew 1,579,000. Hawaii FIVE-0 was again a repeat, hitting 969,000.

Dancing with the Stars on CTV Two (1,179,000) edged The Voice on CTV (1,132,000) although Voice won the 25-54 demo. Castle followed on CTV with 1,123,000 viewers.

Smash did the usual on CTV Two (462,000).

How I met Your Mother opened City’s night at 8 with a repeat (331,000) followed by a rerun of 2 Broke Girls (444,000). City’s Canada’s Got Talent drew 286,000 for a 30-minute Semi-Final. Rules of Engagement did 107,000 at 9:30 and Showtime addition Shameless did 105,000 at 10.

Phoenix/Chicago scored 658,000 hockey fans at TSN. A Jays game drew 580,000 on Sportsnet.

Bering Sea Gold (284,000) was the big draw at Discovery. Top Chef Canada simmered to 285,000 on Food. Midsomer Murders killed on TVO (255,000).

Glee' grads Naya Rivera and Lea Michele. Photo: Adam Rose/Fox

TUESDAY

There was Glee at Global with 1,531,000 catching the show at 8 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles reran to 1,309,000 viewers. A rerun of NCIS managed 761,000 at 10.

CTV found 1,531,000 were watching Missing. A results episode of The Voice did 1,129,000. Unforgettable ended CTV’s night with 1,107,000.

CTV Two plugged in another rerun of Flashpoint (167,000) followed by a Dancing with the Stars results show (1,190,000), where Gladys Knight was sent packing. CTV Two’s night ended with Fashion Star (361,000).

No hockey on CBC, so reruns of Mercer (358,000), The Debaters (222,000), Halifax (235,000) and Winnipeg Comedy Fest (298,000) came off the bench.

City stuck to its Tuesday night comedies Last Man Standing (285,000) followed by Cougar Town (321,000), New Girl (619,000) and Parks & Recreation (220,000). Private Practice ended the night at 10 (469,000).

TSN scored 1,056,000 with their Florida/New Jersey Stanley Cup tilt. The Blue Jays continue to swing a hot bat at Sportsnet, pulling 681,000 against Baltimore. Pawn Stars fetched 485,000 and 534,000 on History. Deadliest Catch landed 367,000 viewers on Discovery.

Kim Spradlin slides to victory on Survivor One World. Photo: CBS 2012

WEDNESDAY

                                                  

Survivor One World was back on top Wednesday with 2,333,000 Global viewers. Rookie Blue, which returns with new episodes in late May, was rerun to 604,000. Reruns of American Dad and The Simpsons drew 175,000 and 371,000 at 10.

The round one NHL playoff series featuring Washington and Boston drew 2,081,000 Wednesday night on CBC. Bye bye Bruins.

American Idol narrowed it down to a Top 6 with 1,960,000 CTV viewers tuning in. A new CSI followed with 1,446,000 at 10.

CTV Two started their night off with Betty White’s Off Their Rockers (318,000). The terrible new NBC comedy Best Friends Forever managed 199,000. A repeat of Criminal Minds (703,000) followed at 9 with CTV Two ending the night with Law & Order SVU (648,000).

City stuck with reruns of The Middle (199,000), Suburgatory (221,000) and Modern Family (473,000). The third episode of ABC’s cheeky new comedy Don’t Trust the B—in Apartment 23 rose to 541,000, followed Revenge at 10 (549,000).

A Jays game batted 465,000 on Sportsnet. History scared 456,000 with Swamp People and poked another 85,000 with Full Metal Jousting. The Real Housewives of Vancouver jumped up to 112,000 on Slice.

                                                                                 

Kaley Couco, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch. Michael Yarish/Warner Bros

THURSDAY

                                                                                 

The Big Bang Theory returned to 3,170,000, a half million off season highs. Blame the hockey game. Two and a Half Men followed on CTV with 1,275,000. Grey’s Anatomy was next with 1,841,000, with The Mentalist pulling 2,085,000, but then again he knew that already.

An NHL playoff Round One game featuring Ottawa and New York drew 2,540,000 on CBC.

The American Idol results hour (1,233,000) was down slightly on CTV Two. America’s Top Model remained unchanged at 225,000. A Nikita episode drew 98,000 at 10. The Vampire Diaries scared up 335,000 viewers at 7 p.m.

Global reran The Exes (90,000) followed by The Office (210,000). Kiefer Sutherland’s new series Touch reached out to 1,005,000. Awake woke up 481,000.

City saw 173,000 tune in to Community. 30 Rock rolled to 417,000. Person of Interest interested 731,000 at 9, followed by the new drama Scandal (270,000).

New Jersey/Florida drew 975,000 NHL playoff fans to TSN. The Jays and Orioles batted 432,000 on Sportsnet.

FRIDAY

CTV opened with Undercover Boss (1,187,000) followed by Grimm at 9 (917,000) and Blue Bloods (1,623,000).

Nashville/Phoenix was the big draw on TSN, scoring 928,000 viewers.

No hockey game on the public broadcaster, so CBC made do with a Ron James “West Coast Wild” comedy special (428,000) and a fifth estate replay (335,000).

Global went with The Finder at 8 (1,117,000) followed by Harry’s Law (733,000) and specialty call up Lost Girl (303,000).

CTV Two went with shark Tank (536,000), CSI: New York (780,000) and Dateline (421000).

City opened with Who Do You Think You Are (372,000) followed by Fringe (342,000), which has been renewed for a fifth and final season of 13 episodes. Mantracker tracked down 203,000 at 10.

King continues to get crowned Fridays at 9 on Showcase (60,000).

SATURDAY          

An afternoon playoff game between Washington and the Rangers—their first round two tilt—drew 899,000 to CBC.

TSN’s round two evening opener between LA and St. Louis pulled 1,204,000 hockey fans.

Buried Saturday at 8 and airing six days after its NBC broadcast, a two hour Celebrity Apprentice was found by 224,000 Global viewers. The Firm managed 358,000 at 10. Saturday Night Live did 391,000 at 11:30 p.m. The Listener, which comes back for a third season May 30, repeated to 552,000 at 10 p.m. on CTV.

Kalinda (Archie Panjabi) in action on The Good Wife. David Giesbrecht/CBS

SUNDAY

Afternoon NHL playoff games on both Saturday and Sunday? That was all CBC had to offer as New Jersey and Philly faced off in their round two opener to 1,204,000 viewers. A week earlier, CBC pulled 3.34 million for a Canucks game. Those Canadian teams are gonna be missed by the public broadcaster.

On CTV, Once Upon a Time returned to 1,407,000 at 7. The Amazing Race roared back at 8 with 2,613,000 overnight, estimated viewers. Desperate Housewives headed toward their finish line with 1,448,000 viewers, with GCB back and pulling 1,099,000.

Global was back with their usual line-up. The Simpsons drew 1,111,000 at 8, followed by Bob’s Burgers (629,000). The season finale of The Good Wife played to 1,101,000, with rookie cop drama NYC 22 arresting 909,000 on Global at 10.

Jays batted 629,000 for a game against Seattle on Sportsnet.

Canada’s Got Talent slipped slightly to 561,000 on City. CTV Two had nothing.

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