TORONTO — The CBC says its English-language prime-time coverage of the Pyeongchang Games with partners TSN and Sportsnet drew an average minute audience of more than three million viewers, up from 2.4 million for the Sochi Games in 2014.
The 17-day event in South Korea wrapped Sunday with a record 29 medals for Canada. It appears many Canadians found ways to adapt to the time difference with Pyeongchang, which is 14 hours ahead of Toronto and 17 hours ahead of Vancouver.
CBC says the most-watched moment was the free skate performance of ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir on Feb. 19, when 5.7 million viewers were tuned in for their gold medal-winning moment.
The second-most viewed moment was the end of the Canada vs. U.S.A. women’s gold medal hockey game on Feb. 22, when 4.8 million viewers watched Team U.S.A. score the winning goal in a sudden-death shootout.
Considerably fewer caught the Canadian men’s hockey team seek a podium spot, which notably came without the aid of National Hockey League players for the first time in 20 years.
CBC says 2.3 million viewers tuned in at 9:29 a.m. ET on Feb. 23 to see the Canadian men’s hockey team pull their goalie during the semifinal game against Germany.
And 2.9 million viewers tuned in at 9:33 a.m. ET on Feb. 24 to see the team celebrate the bronze medal win over Czech Republic.
Overall, the CBC says 31 million Canadians caught at least some of the action on its various platforms this time around.