The first of TSN’s 60+ iconic championship events in 2017 was an instant classic, with Team USA edging Team Canada in an unforgettable Gold Medal Game at the World Juniors. The game captivated viewers across the country, as preliminary overnight data from Numeris confirms that 11.1 million unique viewers – more than 30% of Canadians – tuned in last night to watch the back-and-forth affair that culminated with Team USA’s dramatic shootout victory.

Last night’s Gold Medal Game is the most-watched English-language hockey broadcast on any network since the 2015 World Juniors final between Team Canada and Russia.
An average audience of 5.2 million viewers tuned in to TSN (4.2 million) and RDS (950,000) as Team USA captured their fourth World Juniors championship in a game that has been described as one of the best Gold Medal Games in tournament history. The game achieved a 40.2% share, meaning more than 40% of people watching television across Canada on Thursday night were tuned to the game.

Audience levels on TSN and RDS peaked at 7.2 million viewers at 11:19 p.m. ET in the shootout, as Troy Terry’s lone goal secured the gold medal for Team USA.

“My biggest congratulations to Team Canada, and the entire Hockey Canada organization, for an unforgettable World Juniors. This tournament, highlighted by last night’s thrilling Gold Medal Game, has yet again united viewers across the country,” said Stewart Johnston, President of TSN. “At TSN, we are so proud to deliver the moments of consequence that matter to Canadian fans. Events like these are a testament to the power of live sports, and with the biggest and most diverse broadcast schedule in the country, we can’t wait to showcase another incredible year of championships in 2017.”

Overall, 17.2 million individual Canadians – nearly 50% of Canada’s population – tuned in to watch TSN and RDS’s wall-to-wall coverage of the 2017 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP during the tournament’s 11 days, live from Montréal and Toronto.

Every Team Canada game secured its position as the most-watched program of the day on Canadian television in all key demographics, ahead of all conventional network overnight audiences.
World Juniors Audience Digital Highlights

Complementing the television broadcast, TSN Digital platforms set new standards for fan engagement during the tournament. Highlights include:

- The World Juniors Gold Medal Game is the most-streamed event in the history of TSN GO
- Live streaming of the tournament’s medal round games increased 173% compared to last year, with the Bronze and Gold Medal Games marking a 272% increase
- TSN’s official Twitter account recorded 24.5 million impressions during the 11-day World Juniors tournament, as the account featured exclusive in-game video content of the biggest World Juniors moments, live tweets of World Juniors games, and breaking news and information
- TSN recorded an average of 237 retweets for every World Juniors highlight shared, comprising a total of more than 31,000 retweets throughout the tournament
- Twitter recorded more than 933,000 tweets related to this year’s World Juniors, including a peak of 1,000+ tweets per minute during the gold medal shootout