The TV ratings are in for Week 3 of the CFL season. The numbers have been very promising from the early part of the CFL season, particularly on the Canadian side. In the first two weeks, the league’s ratings were up 32 percent from 2019.

Here are the CFL TV ratings for Week 3:

CFL ON TSN: Week 3 TV Ratings

Thursday- Edmonton Elks/BC Lions: 500,000 viewers

Friday- Montreal Alouettes/Calgary Stampeders: 565,000 viewers

Saturday

Winnipeg Blue Bombers/Toronto Argonauts: 440,000 viewers

Ottawa Redblacks/Saskatchewan Roughriders: 628,700 viewers

Week 3 CFL games averaged 533,000 viewers on TSN, an increase of 4% compared to Week 3 of the 2019 season.

• Ottawa @ Saskatchewan was the top-rated game of the week, with 628,700 viewers

•   Montreal @ Calgary was the second-highest rated game with 565,000 viewers, attracting the largest audience since July 2013 for a game between these two teams

Quick Take: The overall numbers are slightly down from a week ago. In week two, the CFL averaged 574,500 viewers. This week, the four games averaged 533,000 viewers. (No RDS (French language) numbers made available at press time)

It’s worth noting that two of the CFL games on TSN, Friday and Saturday, faced stiff competition against the Toronto Blue Jays, who drew 701,000 and 587,000 viewers on successive days.

CFL ON ESPN2: Week 3 TV Ratings

Thursday night’s Edmonton Elks-BC Lions contest averaged 116,000 viewers. The game ranked 136 out of 150 shows on Cable TV in the 18-49 demo. (0.03)

Saturday afternoon’s Toronto Argonauts-Winnipeg Blue Bombers game on ESPN 2 drew 76,000 viewers. The game did not rank in the top 150 cable shows in the 18-49 demo.

Quick Take: Quite the contrast between the two CFL-ESPN2 telecasts. A similar disparity in week one’s games. (61k/174k) This past week, (116k/76k).

It’s very easy to get lost in the sports viewing shuffle during the weekend. Especially with several NFL preseason games airing head to head. The New York Jets-Green Bay Packers game on NFL Network, which aired head to head with the Toronto game on Saturday afternoon, averaged 1.7 million viewers. (#1 rated program in all of Cable)

Last week, the only CFL game on ESPN’s linear channels was Hamilton/Saskatchewan, Saturday, August 14th, on ESPN News. Because ESPNNews is no longer a rated network by Nielsen Media Research, no ratings were available for that game.

The CFL’s Regular Season opener between Winnipeg and Hamilton on ESPN 2 drew 61,000 viewers in week one. The game registered a 0.02 rating in the 18-49 demo. (173rd in Cable).

The Saturday night ESPN 2 in week one between the Edmonton Elks and Ottawa REDBLACKS registered 174,000 viewers. The game scored a 0.05 in the 18-49 demo. (82nd on Saturday amongst the top 150 Cable shows).

The two-week 1 CFL telecasts on ESPN2 averaged 117,500 viewers.

The Week 2 CFL games on ESPN2 averaged 96,000 viewers.

In Week 4, two CFL games will air on ESPN’s linear networks. Friday night,7:30 pm ET, Hamilton-Montreal on ESPN News. And Sunday Night 7 pm ET, Winnipeg-Calgary on ESPN2.