Getting Canadians to watch homegrown films, to say nothing of an awards show for those films, is a struggle. However, the March 21 broadcast of the Genie Awards, hosted by Andrea Martin, attracted more than double the audience it did in 2004, the first year CHUM aired the awards.

According to BBM, 314,000 (2+) tuned in to the Canadian film awards, while fewer than 157,000 watched last year. The ceremony aired on CHUM stations across the country including Citytv Toronto, Bravo!, Star!, MusiMax, Citytv Vancouver and Access in Alberta, as well as on the Atlantic Satellite Network in the Maritimes. Approximately 1.5 million (18+) tuned in at some point during the 90-minute broadcast.

While the jump in viewers is a definite achievement for CHUM, the audience for Quebec’s film awards, the Prix Jutra, continues to eclipse that of the Genies. This year’s Prix Jutra drew over one million viewers to Radio-Canada on Feb. 20.

While English-language features may continue to be a hard sell, the comedy Corner Gas has just rounded out a wildly successful second season on CTV.

On March 21, audiences hit a new record high, as 1.92 million tuned in for the second-last episode of the season according to Nielsen Media Research. A week later, the March 28 season finale attracted 1.8 million Canadians. The average audience for season two was 1.5 million viewers.

By comparison, the hit SRC sitcom Les Bougon – c’est aussi ça la vie! pulled in a average of 1.8 million viewers in its smaller market over its latest, second season, according to BBM.