Over Four Million Canadians Watch Montreal Upset Pittsburgh

CBC is really happy it had the Montreal-Pittsburgh series go the distance as the network garnered really excellent ratings as the Canadiens closed out the defending Stanley Cup Champions on Thursday. Take a look.

CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA DRAWS 4.239 MILLION VIEWERS TO MONTREAL/PITTSBURGH GAME SEVEN

Pivotal Round Two match-up ranks as sixth largest Stanley Cup Playoff audience ever on CBC; CBC’s Round Two average audience is the highest since 2002; Online streaming continues to attract large audiences

Canadians were glued to CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA on their televisions and computer screens on Wednesday night as Game Seven between the Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins drew an average audience of 4.239 million viewers, a broadcast that now ranks as the sixth largest Stanley Cup Playoff audience in history on CBC. Online, the game attracted a remarkable 130,000 live streaming views. Overall, the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs on CBC’S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA resulted in the program’s highest overall average audience for Round Two since 2002. Audiences to Round Two in 2010 averaged 2.659 million, a 94% increase over Round Two average audiences in 2009 (1.370 million). 

Online streaming views have continued to skyrocket on CBCSports.ca/stanleycup. In addition to the Montreal/Pittsburgh Game Seven, Game Six between Vancouver and Chicago on May 11 totaled 80,249 streaming views. Overall, live streaming views totaled 762,000 for Round Two, an increase of 220% from 2009 (238,000). CBC has had more than 1.5 million live streaming views to the 2010 Playoffs to date, an increase of 187% from 2009 (520,000). In addition to each broadcast available online live and on-demand, each day at 1 p.m. ET throughout the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs Hockey Night in Canada Online keeps fans in the game with the latest news, scores, stats, and highlights.  Plus, throughout Round Three and the Stanley Cup Final, CBCSports.ca/stanleycup will present an exclusive online post-game show following each broadcast, presenting highlights each night, exclusive interviews, and much more.

Individual Television Audiences: 

• The Montreal/Pittsburgh series averaged 2.747 million over seven games
• The Vancouver/Chicago series averaged 2.555 million over six games
• The highest average audience to a single game was 4.239 million for Game Seven between Montreal and Pittsburgh on May 12, followed by the 3.044 million average audience for Game Five between Montreal and Pittsburgh on May 8.

*Source: 2010 television audiences are BBM overnight, A2+ (PPM measurement).  Streaming numbers: CBC Research – Omniture HBX (2009) and Omniture Site Catalyst (2010)

Rather impressive and you know CBC has to be happy having Montreal reach the Eastern Conference Finals.