November 30, 2015

Nearly 10 million take in 103rd Grey Cup on TSN and RDS

CFL.ca

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO — Canada’s biggest party continues to be one of the biggest events on Canadian television, as nearly 10 million total viewers tuned into the 103rd Grey Cup presented by Shaw on RDS and TSN along with an average audience of 4.3 million.

The numbers mark a six per cent growth compared to last year according to preliminary overnight data from Numeris as fans tuned in to watch the Edmonton Eskimos earn a 26-20 Grey Cup victory over the Ottawa REDBLACKS.

Overall, 9.7 million unique viewers, or nearly 30 per cent of the entire Canadian population, watched some or all of the 2015 CFL championship game on TSN and RDS.

“The fact that nearly one in every three Canadians watched some part of the Grey Cup speaks to the strength and importance of the CFL and the Grey Cup to our country,” said Commissioner Jeffrey L. Orridge.

“It’s amazing what happens when the passion of our fans, the quality of our game and the superb work of TSN and RDS come together.”

Audiences for the game peaked at 5.5 million viewers late in the game as Edmonton scored a clutch goal line touchdown on third down to take the lead for good in the fourth quarter.

Fans of the winning team rallied around the result, as the game became the highest-rated program of the calendar year in the Edmonton Extended Market, with 66 per cent of people watching television tuning in for the broadcast.

Among the highlights:

• The 103rd Grey Cup presented by Shaw becomes the 19th program in the history of TSN to average more than 3 million viewers.

• The electric halftime performance by multi-platinum rockers Fall Out Boy during the Nissan Titan Half-Time Show attracted an average audience of 3.8 million viewers.

• An average audience of 1.8 million viewers stayed to watch TSN’s extensive post-game coverage. #GreyCup was also a popular topic on Twitter as it trended for over 5.5 hours throughout the day on Sunday.

• 102,000-plus total mentions of the Grey Cup on Twitter during Grey Cup Sunday (approx. 15 per cent more than the 102nd Grey Cup).

• Most Tweeted moment was the final play at 9:31 pm ET (410 Tweets/minute were sent at that time)


The Top-5 most mentioned players were:

1. Mike Reilly, Eskimos (@Rikester13)

2. Henry Burris, REDBLACKS (@HenryBurris)

3. Jordan Lynch, Eskimos (@Jordanlynch06)

4. Adarius Bowman, Eskimos (@AdariusBowman)

5. Sean Whyte, Eskimos (@SeanWhyte6)