List of most watched television broadcasts in Canada

The following is a list of most watched television broadcasts in Canada based on average viewership of the broadcasts. The Grey Cup has frequently been the most watched Canadian television broadcast of the year. The most watched television broadcast in Canadian history was the Gold medal game of the men's hockey tournament at the 2010 Winter Olympics, played between the United States and Canada, with a confirmed 16.6 million Canadians watching the whole game, roughly one-half of Canada's entire population in 2010.[1]

Most watched broadcasts

The following is a list of the twenty most watched TV broadcasts in Canada.[2]

  Indicates broadcast unrelated to Olympic Games.

No.	Show	Viewership (millions)	Date	Network(s)	Ref.
1	2010 Winter Olympics: Men's hockey – Canada vs. USA gold medal game	16.67	February 28, 2010	CTV Olympics	[1]
2	2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony	14.44	February 28, 2010	CTV Olympics	[3]
3	2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony	13.50	February 12, 2010	CTV Olympics	[4]
4	2010 Winter Olympics: Men's hockey – Canada vs. USA preliminary round game	10.68	February 21, 2010	CTV Olympics	[5]
5	2010 Winter Olympics: Men's hockey – Canada vs. Russia quarterfinal game	10.56	February 24, 2010	CTV Olympics	[5]
6	2002 Winter Olympics: Men's hockey – Canada vs. USA gold medal game	10.30	February 22, 2002	CBC	[6]
7	2010 Winter Olympics: Men's hockey – Canada vs. Slovakia semifinal game	9.87	February 26, 2010	CTV Olympics	[7]
8	2011 Stanley Cup Finals – Game 7: Boston vs. Vancouver	8.64	June 15, 2011	CBC	[8]
9	2014 Winter Olympics: Men's hockey - Canada vs. Sweden gold medal game	8.5	February 23, 2014	CBC, TSN, Sportsnet	[9]
10	Super Bowl XLIX	8.26	February 1, 2015	CTV	[10]
11	NBA Finals - Game 6 - Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors	7.7	June 13, 2019	TSN, CTV	[11]
12	2010 Winter Olympics: Women's hockey – Canada vs. USA gold medal game	7.50	February 25, 2010	CTV Olympics	[7]
13	2010 Winter Olympics: Men's hockey – Canada vs. Germany qualification playoff game	7.43	February 23, 2010	CTV Olympics	[7]
14	Super Bowl 50	7.37	February 7, 2016	CTV
15	Super Bowl XLVIII	7.32	February 2, 2014	CTV	[12]
16	Super Bowl XLVI	7.3	February 5, 2012	CTV	[13]
17	2010 Winter Olympics: Short track speed skating – Men's 1000 metres finals	7.23	February 20, 2010	CTV Olympics	[7]
18	2016 Summer Olympics: Men's 100 metres final	6.92	August 14, 2016	CBC	[14]
19	2010 Winter Olympics: Men's hockey – Canada vs. Switzerland preliminary round game	6.89	February 18, 2010	CTV Olympics	[7]
20	2011 Stanley Cup Finals – Game 6: Boston vs. Vancouver	6.69	June 13, 2011	CBC	[8]

Most watched television broadcasts by year

2020

2019

The following is a list of the most watched television broadcasts of 2019.

No.	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Date	Network
1	NBA Finals - Game 6 - Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors ^1	7.7	June 13, 2019	TSN, CTV
2	NBA Finals - Game 5 - Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors	6.4[15]	June 10, 2019	Sportsnet, Citytv
3	91st Academy Awards	5.21[16]	February 18, 2019	CTV
4	NBA Finals - Game 4 - Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors	4.63	June 7, 2019	TSN, CTV 2, RDS
5	Super Bowl LIII	4.34[17]	February 3, 2019	CTV
6	The Big Bang Theory ("The Change Constant"/"The Stockholm Syndrome") (series finale)	4.33[18]	May 19, 2019	CTV
7	NBA Finals - Game 2 - Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors	4.3[19][20]	June 2, 2019	TSN, CTV 2
8	Stanley Cup Finals - Game 7 - St. Louis vs. Boston	4.15	June 12, 2019	CBC, Sportsnet
9	107th Grey Cup	3.9[21]	November 24, 2019	TSN
10	NBA Finals - Game 3 - Toronto Raptors vs. Golden State Warriors	3.8	June 5, 2019	Sportsnet, Citytv
11	Stanley Cup Round 1 - Game 6 - Boston vs. Toronto	3.72	April 21, 2019	CBC, Sportsnet

¹ Bell Media says 15.9 million unique Canadian viewers tuned in at some point of Game 6. The audience peaked at 9.99 million for the final minute of the game. In Toronto and Hamilton, 82 per cent of people watching television had the Raptors game on — the highest sports total ever for that market, excluding the Olympics.[22]

2018

The following is a list of the most watched television broadcasts of 2018.

No.	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Date	Network
1	2018 Winter Olympics: Ice dance final	5.7	February 20, 2018	CBC, TSN, Sportsnet
2	2018 Winter Olympics: Women's hockey - Canada vs. USA gold medal game	4.8	February 22, 2018	CBC, TSN, Sportsnet
3	90th Academy Awards	4.73[23]	March 4, 2018	CTV
4	Super Bowl LII	4.47[24]	February 4, 2018	CTV
5	Stanley Cup Playoffs- Round 1 - Game 7 - Toronto vs. Boston	4.3	April 25, 2018	CBC, Sportsnet
6	Super Bowl LII post-game show	4.23[24]	February 4, 2018	CTV
7	Super Bowl LII pre-game show	4.14[24]	February 4, 2018	CTV
8	The Big Bang Theory ("The Bow Tie Asymmetry")	3.93[25]	May 10, 2018	CTV
9	2018 FIFA World Cup final- France vs. Croatia	3.90	July 15, 2018	CTV, TSN
10	The Big Bang Theory ("The Solo Oscillation")	3.78[26]	January 11, 2018	CTV

2017

The following is a list of the most watched television broadcasts of 2017.

No.	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Date	Network
1	89th Academy Awards	5.80	February 26, 2017	CTV
2	Super Bowl LI	4.49	February 5, 2017	CTV
3	2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs - Eastern Conference Final Game 7 - Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh	4.29[27]	May 25, 2017	CBC, Sportsnet
4	105th Grey Cup	4.10[28]	November 26, 2017	TSN
5	The Big Bang Theory ("The Holiday Summation")	3.98	January 5, 2017	CTV
	The Big Bang Theory ("The Comic-Con Condundrum")		February 23, 2017	CTV
7	Super Bowl LI pre-game show	3.92	February 5, 2017	CTV
8	The Big Bang Theory ("The Locomotion Reverberation")	3.90	February 9, 2017	CTV
9	Super Bowl LI post-game show	3.87	February 5, 2017	CTV
10	The Big Bang Theory ("The Proposal Proposal")	3.85	September 25, 2017	CTV

2016

The following is a list of the most watched television broadcasts of 2016.[29]

  Indicates broadcast unrelated to sports.

No.	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Date	Network
1	Super Bowl 50	7.37	February 7, 2016	CTV
2	2016 Summer Olympics: Men's 100 metres final	6.92[14]	August 14, 2016	CBC
3	88th Academy Awards	5.65	February 28, 2016	CTV
4	The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration (farewell concert)	4.33	August 20, 2016	CBC

2015

The following is a list of the ten most watched television broadcasts of 2015.[10]

  Indicates broadcast unrelated to sports.

No.	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Date	Network
1	Super Bowl XLIX	8.26	February 1, 2015	CTV
2	2015 IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal game: Canada vs. Russia	5.95	January 5, 2015	TSN
3	87th Academy Awards	5.53	February 22, 2015	CTV
4	Super Bowl XLIX pre-game show	5.16	February 1, 2015	CTV
5	The Big Bang Theory ("The Opening Night Excitation")	5.09	December 17, 2015	CTV
6	2015 American League Championship Series: Game 6 - Toronto vs. Kansas City	5.08	October 23, 2015	Sportsnet
7	2015 IIHF World Junior Championship Final post-game show	5.07	January 5, 2015	TSN
8	The Big Bang Theory ("The Colonization Application")	4.49	March 5, 2015	CTV
9	The Big Bang Theory ("The Anxiety Optimization")	4.36	January 29, 2015	CTV
10	103rd Grey Cup	4.3[30]	November 29, 2015	TSN

2014

The following is a list of the ten most watched television broadcasts of 2014.[12]

  Indicates broadcast unrelated to sports.

No.	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Date	Network
1	2014 Winter Olympics: Men's hockey - gold medal game	8.5	February 23, 2014	CBC, Sportsnet, TSN
2	Super Bowl XLVIII	7.32	February 2, 2014	CTV
3	86th Academy Awards	6.40	March 2, 2014	CTV
4	2014 FIFA World Cup final	4.90	July 13, 2014	CBC
5	Super Bowl XLVII pre-game show	4.53	February 2, 2014	CTV
6	The Big Bang Theory ("The Occupation Recalibration")	4.45	January 9, 2014	CTV
7	The Big Bang Theory ("The Prom Equivalency")	4.44	November 6, 2014	CTV
8	The Big Bang Theory ("The Misinterpretation Agitation")	4.41	October 30, 2014	CTV
9	2014 Winter Olympics closing ceremony	4.33	February 23, 2014	CBC
10	The Big Bang Theory ("The Status Quo Combustion")	4.30	May 15, 2014	CTV

2013

The following is a list of the ten most watched television broadcasts of 2013.[31]

  Indicates broadcast unrelated to sports.

No.	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Date	Network
1	Super Bowl XLVII	6.6	February 3, 2013	CTV
2	85th Academy Awards	6.3	February 24, 2013	CTV
3	Stanley Cup Round 1 - Game 7 - Toronto vs. Boston	5.1	May 13, 2013	CBC
4	101st Grey Cup	4.5	November 24, 2013	TSN
5	70th Golden Globe Awards	3.5	January 13, 2013	CTV
6	Stanley Cup Finals - Game 6 - Boston vs. Chicago	3.4	June 24, 2013	CBC
7	55th Annual Grammy Awards	3.2	February 10, 2013	Global
8	65th Primetime Emmy Awards	2.5	September 22, 2013	CTV
9	2013 Juno Awards	1.9	April 21, 2013	CTV
10	2013 People's Choice Awards	1.8	January 9, 2013	Global

2012

The following is a list of the ten most watched television broadcasts of 2012.[13][32]

  Indicates broadcast unrelated to sports.

No.	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Date	Network
1	Super Bowl XLVI	7.3	February 5, 2012	CTV
2	84th Academy Awards	6.5	February 26, 2012	CTV
3	100th Grey Cup	5.4	November 25, 2012	TSN
4	2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony	5.2	August 12, 2012	CTV
5	54th Annual Grammy Awards	5.0	February 12, 2012	Global
6	Megastunts: Highwire Over Niagara Falls - Live!	3.8	June 15, 2012	CTV
7	69th Golden Globe Awards	3.2	January 15, 2012	CTV
8	CTV at the Oscars	2.7	February 26, 2012	CTV
9	64th Primetime Emmy Awards	2.5	September 23, 2012	CTV
10	Céline Dion...Sans attendre	2.3	November 4, 2012	TVA

2011

The following is a list of the ten most watched television broadcasts of 2011.[8]

  Indicates broadcast unrelated to sports.

No.	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Date	Network
1	Stanley Cup Final – Game 7: Boston @ Vancouver	8.64	June 15, 2011	CBC
2	Stanley Cup Final – Game 6: Vancouver @ Boston	6.69	June 13, 2011	CBC
3	Super Bowl XLV	6.53	February 6, 2011	CTV
4	83rd Academy Awards	6.28	February 27, 2011	CTV
5	2011 IIHF World Junior Championship Final	6.08	January 5, 2011	TSN
6	Stanley Cup Final – Game 5: Boston @ Vancouver	6.06	June 10, 2011	CBC
7	Stanley Cup Final – Game 2: Boston @ Vancouver	5.63	June 4, 2011	CBC
8	Stanley Cup Final – Game 1: Boston @ Vancouver	5.51	June 1, 2011	CBC
9	Stanley Cup Final – Game 3: Vancouver @ Boston	5.43	June 6, 2011	CBC
10	Two and a Half Men ("Nice to Meet You, Walden Schmidt")	5.32	September 19, 2011	CTV

2010

The following is a list of the ten most watched television broadcasts of 2010, excluding broadcasts from the 2010 Winter Olympics.[7]

  Indicates broadcast unrelated to sports.

No.	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Date	Network
1	Super Bowl XLIV	6.30	February 7, 2010	CTV
2	82nd Academy Awards	6.19	March 7, 2010	CTV
3	2011 IIHF World Junior Championship Final	5.44	January 5, 2010	TSN
4	98th Grey Cup	5.03	November 28, 2010	TSN
5	2010 FIFA World Cup Final	4.92	July 11, 2010	CBC
6	Stanley Cup Round 2 – Game 7: Montreal vs. Pittsburgh	4.24	May 12, 2010	CBC
7	Stanley Cup Final – Game 6: Chicago vs. Philadelphia	4.12	June 9, 2010	CBC
8	The Big Bang Theory ("The Apology Insufficiency")	3.72	November 4, 2010	CTV
9	American Idol ("Hollywood Round: Part 1")	3.67	February 9, 2010	CTV
10	The Big Bang Theory ("The Boyfriend Complexity")	3.53	November 18, 2010	CTV

Top 10 Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Broadcasts

No.	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Date	Network(s)
1	Men's hockey – Canada vs. USA gold medal game	16.67	February 28, 2010	CTV Olympics
2	Closing Ceremony	14.44	February 28, 2010
3	Opening Ceremony	13.50	February 12, 2010
4	Men's hockey – Canada vs. USA preliminary round game	10.68	February 21, 2010
5	Men's hockey – Canada vs. Russia quarterfinal game	10.56	February 24, 2010
6	Men's hockey – Canada vs. Slovakia semifinal game	9.87	February 26, 2010
7	Women's hockey – Canada vs. USA gold medal game	7.50	February 25, 2010
8	Men's hockey – Canada vs. Germany qualification playoff game	7.43	February 23, 2010
9	Short track speed skating – Men's 1000 metres finals	7.23	February 20, 2010
10	Men's hockey – Canada vs. Switzerland preliminary round game	6.89	February 18, 2010

Most watched TV series

Most watched by year

Season	Show	Viewership (in millions)	Network
2012–13	The Amazing Race Canada	2.85[31]	CTV
2013–14		2.75[12]
2014–15		2.54[10] trailer park boys References "Olympic final most watched hockey game in 30 years". NHL. March 1, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2011. "Record numbers watch Canada win hockey gold". Digital Home. March 2, 2010. Brioux, Bill (February 25, 2014). "Sochi Olympics: TV ratings down compared to 2010 in Vancouver; digital viewing soars". Toronto Star. Grohmann, Karolos (February 13, 2010). "Games opening ceremony is most watched TV event in Canada". Reuters. Retrieved May 4, 2011. "CTV wins Olympic Golden Ring award for Vancouver coverage". TSN. July 17, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2011. "2010 Gold Medal Game Is the Apex of TV Viewing in Canada as Legend of '72 Summit Series Finally Laid to Rest". Newswire.ca. March 2010. Retrieved 2011-05-04. "TV Top 10: What Canadians Watched on Television in 2010". CTV Media. December 16, 2010. Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2017. "TV Top 10: What Canadians Watched on Television in 2011". newswire.ca. Retrieved January 5, 2017. "More than 15 million Canadians watched gold medal hockey win over Sweden". Retrieved 2018-03-01. "TV Top 10: What Canadians Watched in 2015". bellmedia.ca. Retrieved August 8, 2016. "Toronto Raptors' Game 6 broke Canadian TV records". globalnews.ca. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 15 June 2019. "TV Top 10: What Canadians Watched in 2014". bellmedia.ca. Retrieved August 8, 2016. "TV Top 10: What Canadians Watched in 2012". newswire.ca. Retrieved January 5, 2017. "Gold-medal-worthy ratings for CBC amid Rio Olympics". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 9 September 2016. "NBA Finals Game 5 set another Canadian record, beat Big Bang Theory finale". Awful Announcing. 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-06-12. "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) February 18, 2019 - February 24, 2019" (PDF). Numeris. March 5, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019. "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) January 28, 2019 - February 03, 2019" (PDF). Numeris. February 12, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019. Rody-Mantha, Bree. "Out with a Bang: The Big Bang Theory finale, by the numbers". Retrieved 2019-06-12. Thorne, Will (2019-06-06). "TV Ratings: NBA Finals Game 3 Stays Low". Variety. Retrieved 2019-06-08. Hernandez, Kristian. "Ratings Roundup: As Canadian Fans Carry 2019 NBA Finals, the Tennis Channel's Coverage of the French Open Jumps 47% from 2018". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2019-06-08. TSN ca Staff (2019-11-25). "107th GREY CUP Presented by Shaw Audience Grows 19% to 3.9 Million Viewers on TSN and RDS - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved 2020-01-15. "Toronto Raptors set another Canadian television record on title night". CityNews Toronto. Canadian Press. Retrieved 15 June 2019. "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) February 26 - March 4, 2018" (PDF). Numeris. Retrieved 14 March 2018. "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) January 29 - February 4, 2018" (PDF). Numeris. Retrieved 16 February 2018. "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) May 7 - May 13, 2018" (PDF). Numeris. Retrieved June 14, 2018. "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) January 8 - January 14, 2018" (PDF). Numeris. Retrieved 16 February 2018. Shoalts, David. "NHL ratings boost gives Rogers Media something to smile about". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 22 February 2018. "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) November 20 - November 26, 2017" (PDF). Numeris. Retrieved 6 December 2017. "Top Programs – Total Canada (English) August 15 - August 21, 2016" (PDF). Numeris. Retrieved August 30, 2016. TSN ca Staff (2015-11-30). "Grey Cup grows to 4.3M viewers on TSN, RDS - TSN.ca". TSN. Retrieved 2020-04-15. "TV Top 10: What Canadians Watched in 2013". newswire.ca. Retrieved August 8, 2016. "Céline Dion… Sans attendre, un succès retentissant!". productionsj.com (in French). Productions J. 5 November 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2017.