CTV’s two-part MOW Lives of the Saints, starring Sophia Loren and directed by Jerry Ciccoritti, drew a very strong average of 1.45 million viewers over Jan. 2 and 3, according to Nielsen Media Research, playing well to stay-at-home post-holiday crowds after heavy promotion throughout December. Ratings dipped slightly on the second night, however, from 1.46 million to 1.42 million.

The net followed up with another MOW on Jan. 5, Choice: The Henry Morgentaler Story, a biopic of the abortion rights activist, which drew an average of just 561,000 viewers.

CBC premiered two new shows on Jan. 3. The Tournament, a miniseries following the parents of a team of 10-year-old hockey players, garnered an average of 605,000 viewers for its premiere at 8 p.m., against part two of Saints. Walter Ego, a pilot about the inner workings of a newspaper cartoonist’s mind, attracted an average of 391,000 viewers, while the second episode, airing immediately after, drew 3,000 more. In comparison, in January of last year, the debuts for Rick Mercer’s Monday Report attracted 800,000 viewers while The Newsroom drew 500,000.

-www.ctv.ca

-www.cbc.ca