'Big Bang' Night In Canada

[Sal]

For the past couple of seasons, "The Big Bang Theory" has been Canada's most-watched sitcom, with its ratings here being as impressive as the big numbers they've been showing in the US. The show has helped CTV become Canada's top network by a wide margin, and now this fall and winter, CTV is giving its many fans a big bonus in return.


Ever since the NHL lockout began on Sept. 15, with no end in sight, (sorry, couldn't resist), CTV has taken dead aim at its biggest rival CBC by taking over its signature night. For 60 years, Saturday nights in Canada have meant "Hockey Night In Canada" on CBC without interruption and without much competition, until now. Without any real hockey to watch, the network has been airing classic games from the 70s and 80s as voted on online by the fans. (Judging by the voting results, I'd say they're doing a terrible job.) In contrast, CTV has countered with 4 back to back episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" in a mini-marathon which they've cleverly dubbed "Big Bang Night In Canada". The showdown has resulted in a stunning trouncing in the ratings by CTV over CBC with "Big Bang" averaging between 1-2 million viewers (which the hockey games normally get even on bad nights) and CBC suddenly lagging far behind. Keep in mind that these episodes are all reruns and yet they're all performing better than newer series on other networks. This has caused a seismic spike in the show's ratings on its regular Thursday prime time slot at 8 pm. The latest episode drew an astonishing 3,883,000 million viewers, over a million more than the 2nd-place show, which just happened to be a surprisingly re-awakened "Two And A Half Men" that follows "Big Bang" on CTV at 8:30 pm.

What makes the Saturday showings more interesting is that they all follow a specific theme which connects all 4 episodes together. A few weeks ago, they showed the best Halloween episodes from the past 4 years, followed the next week by what the network billed as "Nerds And The Girls Who Love Them" spotlighting the show's female co-stars, which I believe is the series' biggest strength, easily saving it from entering the shark-jumping phase. Tomorrow night should also be interesting, since it deals with alien encounters! This means each episode has a science fiction theme, highlighted with guest appearances by Stephen Hawking, George Takei, and semi-regular Wil Wheaton, who was featured in a recent spotlight on "Mortal Enemies".

Sounds like a fun way to spend a Saturday night, at least until (if? when?) hockey comes back.


Top 30 ratings - Nov. 5-11, 2012

[robyrob]

when you extraploate for Canada's population, that would be like 38 million viewers in the US - amazing numbers, but then the show has been better than ever lately