Wimbledon was a Grand Slam for Bell Media in more ways than one, with deep runs by Canadian tennis stars Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic leading to huge ratings for its sports specialty services TSN and RDS.
More than 10 million people watched at least part of the networks’ two weeks of coverage, with Bouchard’s historical finals appearance against Petra Kvitova drawing an average audience of 1.8 million viewers 2+, making it the most-watched women’s final on record.
According to overnight numbers from Numeris (formerly BBM Canada), more than 3.6 million unique viewers tuned in to watch at least part of Saturday’s match, which featured a Canadian competing in a singles final for the first time ever. Audiences peaked at 1.7 million in the final minutes of Bouchard’s 6-3, 6-0 defeat.
Sunday’s hugely entertaining men’s final between Novak Djokovic and seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer—a four-hour marathon that saw Federer overcome match point in the fourth set before falling 6-4 in the final set—attracted an average audience of 823,000 viewers and a total reach of 3.8 million unique viewers.
Raonic’s semi-final loss to Federer on Friday attracted an average audience of 766,000, peaking at 1.1 million viewers as the Swiss legend served for the win. A total of 2.4 million people tuned in for at least part of the match.
The men’s doubles final featuring Canadian Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock—an unseeded duo playing together for the first time—drew an average audience of 319,000 and a reach of 2.2 million unique viewers.
TSN kicked off a new 10-year rights deal for Wimbledon in 2012.
