As predicted in Wednesday's Sun, both CTV and Global are claiming victory in Thursday night's battle of the TV titans -- Canadian Idol vs. Survivor: Vanuatu.
In the 18- to 49-year-old demographic -- the measure that matters most to advertisers -- Global's Survivor stomped CTV's Canadian Idol, winning the 8 to 9 p.m. hour nationally by a nearly a 2-1 margin.
Global, in fact, won the head-to-head 8 to 9 p.m. hour in every age demo. According to overnight BBM People Meter Data, Global edged CTV by 5% among all viewers and by a whopping 104% among 18-to 34-year-olds. They even won among 25- to 54-year-olds (by 20%).
Verdict: Survivor beats Canadian Idol.
That didn't stop CTV from issuing a release yesterday claiming "Canadian Idol Topples Survivor All Across Canada, 3.35 Million Canadians Vote Rivals Off The Island."
Here's how CTV spun it: They used Idol's extra hour to their advantage. Overall, more people tuned in to Idol in the 9 to 10 p.m. hour -- when The Apprentice was on Global -- allowing CTV to claim that more Canadians coast to coast watched Idol (3.35 million viewers) than Survivor (2.875 million).
In Toronto, among younger viewers, Idol continued to show signs of weakness. Survivor romped to a 10.4 rating among 18- to 49-year-olds, 82% higher than CTV's Idol number.
As well, more Vancouverites watched Survivor than Idol.
Which show in Canada finished No. 1 for the week? We called that one, too. Neither Survivor nor Canadian Idol could top the 3.83 million audience who tuned in Tuesday to Team Canada's World Cup hockey victory on CBC.
Race in canada: The Amazing Race concludes Tuesday -- and Canada is near the finish line.
CTV revealed yesterday that three Canadian stops will be featured on the two-hour finale, which starts at 9 p.m.
The four remaining teams are lovebirds Colin Guinn and Christie Woods, parents Chip and Kim McAllister, best friends Linda Ruiz and Karen Heins, and daters Brandon Davidson and Nicole O'Brian.
They will have to stop at Banff's Sunshine Village, climb to the Continental Divide and visit the Olympic Stadium in Calgary.
Only three of the final four teams will compete in the final hour. By the end they will have raced a total of 72,000 miles. At stake is a $1 million US prize.
