There was lots of competition for the Canadian Football League on television during its Semi-Final Sunday this past weekend.
The three-down league started playoffs on the same day as the NFL was playing the majority of its Week 9 schedule, while the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors were both in action.
Canadian quarterback Nathan Rourke led his Lions to a decisive West Division Semi-Final win at BC Place to record the day’s No. 1-rated sports broadcast. Rourke completed 22-of-30 passes (73 percent) for 321 yards with two touchdowns to headline a 30-16 decision over Calgary. Rourke drew more attention on TV than any NFL game, plus he beat out the Leafs and Raps.
The 1 p.m. eastern time NFL games across CTV brought in an average audience of 545,900, while the 4 p.m. ET matchups netted 455,900. Puck drop for the Maple Leafs’ 3-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes was at 5 p.m. ET on TSN and drew an average audience of 512,000. The Raptors’ 111-97 loss in Chicago started at 6 p.m. ET with 310,700 viewers watching across Sportsnet’s national channels and Sportsnet One.
Sunday Night Football needed overtime in Kansas City to decide a winner between the Titans and Chiefs with the home side prevailing 20-17. Patrick Mahomes produced 509 yards of total offence as 368,000 watched on TSN and 285,600 on CTV2, with 653,600 onlookers in total.
Thursday Night Football featured the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles beating the Houston Texans, improving to 8-0 with 513,100 viewers on TSN and CTV2. Monday Night Football featuring Lamar Jackson and his Baltimore Ravens defeating New Orleans 27-13 drew an audience of 443,700 on TSN.
Semi-Final Sunday TV ratings 2022:
Hamilton at Montreal — 516,200
Calgary at B.C. — 753,500
Average: 634,850
2021
Montreal at Hamilton — 684,000
Calgary at Saskatchewan — 1,061,000
Average: 872,500
2019
Edmonton at Montreal — 626,900 (RDS 405,000)
Winnipeg at Calgary — 1,100,800 (RDS 75,000)
Average: 863,850
2018
B.C. at Hamilton — 697,800
Winnipeg at Saskatchewan — 1,280,000
Average: 988,900
2017
Saskatchewan at Ottawa — 975,000
Edmonton at Winnipeg — 1,128,000
Average: 1,051,500
