CTV’s Corner Gas continues to generate audiences of over one million viewers after moving to its new Monday 8 p.m. time-slot.

On Jan. 17, its first night in the new slot, Corner Gas attracted over 1.3 million viewers. Previously it aired on Tuesdays at 8 p.m.

While moving Corner Gas to Mondays could be seen as a move by CTV to edge in on CBC’s Monday night lineup, audiences for Rick Mercer’s Monday Report, which now airs against Corner Gas, remained relatively unaffected, with 751,000 viewers tuning in on Jan. 17. The January 2004 debut of Mercer’s show pulled in 800,000 viewers and its average for the 2003/04 season was 786,000.

CTV also premiered its new homegrown show Instant Star with back-to-back episodes on Jan. 23, at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The first episode attracted 507,000 viewers, rising to 534,000 for the second. The series will air regularly on Sundays at 7:30 p.m. starting Jan. 30.

In addition, CTV’s drama The Eleventh Hour has been moved from Sunday to Saturday night, and although Saturday evening is generally not considered a great time-slot, Eleventh Hour’s ratings remained consistent. On Jan. 22, 363,000 viewers tuned in, which is right around the show’s season-to-date average of 361,000, according to Nielsen Media Research.

While Eleventh Hour is part of CTV’s all-Canadian Saturday night lineup, which also includes W5, Cold Squad and Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, Canada’s public broadcaster continues to draw big audiences on Saturday nights by airing family and blockbuster Hollywood movies. On Jan. 22, 878,000 tuned in to CBC for Aladdin at 7 p.m. and 945,000 tuned in at 9 p.m. for Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back.

Also on CBC, Da Vinci’s Inquest, one of Canada’s longest-running and most critically acclaimed dramas, came to an end on Jan. 23. A special two-hour finale aired at 8 p.m., attracting 505,000 viewers, slightly less than the show’s season average of 561,000.

-www.ctv.ca

-www.cbc.ca