Team Canada’s epic World Juniors gold medal win on home ice was an unforgettable moment that united fans across the nation. Preliminary overnight data confirms a record-breaking average audience of 7.1 million Canadians watched Canada’s thrilling 5-4 victory over Russia on TSN (6 million) and RDS (1.13 million), making it the most-watched broadcast on record on specialty television in Canada.
Last night’s game ranks as the most-watched World Juniors game ever – 6% higher than the 2011 Gold Medal Game (6.7 million viewers on TSN and RDS).
Overall, 13.4 million unique Canadian viewers tuned in to watch Team Canada reclaim World Junior gold. Audience levels on TSN and RDS peaked at 9.7 million viewers at 10:31 p.m. ET in the game’s dying seconds as Canada held on for the victory.
“Team Canada’s gold medal performance at the World Juniors has once again inspired fans across the country, and this massive audience demonstrates that fan engagement in the tournament has reached staggering new heights,” said Stewart Johnston, President of TSN. “Everyone at TSN is so proud to showcase the drama and excitement of this incredible tournament for viewers in Canada and around the world.”
“This IIHF World Junior Championship proved once again the passion Canadians have for hockey, and for this tournament,” said Tom Renney, president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada. “We are extremely proud of the work TSN and RDS did this year in Toronto and Montréal, and have done over the last 25 years. The networks have played an integral role in growing the World Juniors into the holiday tradition it has become, and we are thrilled to continue to strengthen our partnership with Canada’s Sports Leaders.”
World Juniors Audience Snapshot
- TSN’s average audience for the dramatic game was an outstanding 6 million viewers, the second most-watched program ever on English specialty television (behind the 2011 World Juniors Gold Medal Game – 6.1 million), and the most-watched telecast on English television since THE 86TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS®
- RDS registered its highest audience ever for a World Juniors game with 1.13 million viewers
- Overall, 19.4 million Canadians – or more than half the country’s population – tuned in to watch some or all of TSN and RDS’s wall-to-wall coverage of the 2015 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP in Montréal and Toronto – a 14% increase compared to the last time it was played in Canada
- Collectively, Canadians consumed 105 million hours of the World Juniors on TSN and RDS over 27 games in an 11 day period – three hours of viewing for every person in Canada
- Every one of Team Canada’s 2015 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP games ranked as the most-watched program of the day on Canadian television in all key demographics – elevating TSN to the #1 network in Canada on all seven days that Team Canada played, ahead of all conventional networks
- The average audience for the seven Canada games was 3.8 million, a new all-time high
- Team Canada’s semifinal victory over Slovakia on Sunday was the second most-watched game from the tournament, attracting an average audience of 4.5 million viewers on TSN (3.9 million) and RDS (617,000)
- Russia’s semifinal victory over Sweden on Sunday was the most watched non- Canadian World Juniors semifinal game ever, with an average audience of 1.46 million viewers on TSN and RDS
World Juniors Audience Digital Highlights
Complementing the television broadcast, TSN and RDS Digital platforms set a new standard for fan engagement during the tournament. Highlights include:
- TSN Digital platforms garnered more than 16 million pageviews, 1.9 million video views throughout the tournament
- TSN GO recorded 427,000 streams during the tournament, an increase of more than three times its normal engagement. In addition, TSN.ca recorded 27,000 unique views for its multi-cam view of games from the tournament.
- TSN.ca generated 1.8 million pageviews on Jan. 5 alone, a 65% increase compared to the last time Canada won a medal game (2012)
- The @TSNHockey Twitter account delivered more than 20 million organic impressions against World Junior related content between Dec. 26 and Jan. 5, including exclusive in-game video content of the biggest moments of the tournament, live tweets of all World Juniors games, and breaking news and information
- TSN’s #BigPlay Twitter Amplify execution in partnership with Canadian Tire raised $45,657 to help give kids the opportunity to play minor hockey
- TSN’s hashtag for the tournament, #HereWeGo, trended across the country on multiple days throughout the tournament
- RDS Digital platforms recorded 1.6 million pageviews throughout the tournament
- World Juniors posts garnered more than 80,000 interactions on the RDS Facebook page
- Twitter recorded more than 1 million tweets related to this year’s World Juniors, including a peak of 3,034 tweets per minute when Canada claimed the gold medal