this is for the weekend of the 7th (not this last weekend)
Little love for Toronto FC on television -- yet
The CBC had better be right about Major League Soccer.
The people's network recently jettisoned the Raptors because it felt ratings weren't quite good enough to justify those weekend time slots. On the other hand, it expressed deep and abiding love for Toronto FC, which would give its left halfback to get the kind of ratings the Raptors drew.
Witness Saturday's poor draw, the latest in a series of poor ratings for the MLS club.Since its inception, the Toronto team has been a major hit at the gate and a semi-disaster on television.
But this isn't a case of the CBC not realizing that ratings aren't calculated like golf. Low numbers are bad, not good, in the TV game.
The CBC's faith in TFC stems from its belief that adding two more teams in Canada over the next two years will ignite interest in MLS. A Toronto team that barely draws flies on television will see ratings soar once it has more Canadian rivals in Vancouver and Montreal is how the CBC sees it.
It could happen. But it also could be a repeat of what we saw when there were two NBA franchises here: Apathy.
Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, the CFL continues to dominate the summer ratings, though a near perfect game and a late playoff run by the Toronto Blue Jays helped their numbers soar.
Here are the most-watched sports events on English-language television over the weekend, according to BBM Canada overnight ratings:
1. CFL, Blue Bombers at Tiger-Cats, Saturday, TSN: 858,000
2. CFL, Roughriders at Alouettes, Friday, TSN: 853,000 ***
3. CFL, Stampeders at Lions, Saturday, TSN: 795,000
4. MLB, Rays at Blue Jays, Sunday, Sportsnets: 760,000
5. CFL, Argonauts at Eskimos, Friday, TSN: 649,000
6. MLB, Rays at Blue Jays, Saturday, Sportsnet: 493,000
7. Auto racing, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Sunday, TSN: 448,000
8. MLB, Rays at Blue Jays, Friday, Sportsnet: 446,000*
9. PGA, Bridgestone Invitational final round, Sunday, Global/CBS: 339,000
10. NFL, Bengals vs. Cowboys, Sunday, TSN: 305,000**
11. PGA, Bridgestone Invitational third round, Saturday, Global/CBS: 255,000
12. Auto racing, NASCAR Nationwide, Satuday, TSN: 182,000
13. MLB, Red Sox at Yankees, Sundady, TSN2: 164,000
14. MLS, Chivas at Toronto FC, Saturday, CBC: 134,000
* 3 channels only
** Ratings for NBC not calculated
*** RDS numbers not calculated