Hockey-hungry Canadians were quick to jump at one of the first NHL-related broadcasts since fans were assured that hockey would be back for the 2005/06 season.

The audience for TSN’s five-hour coverage of the NHL draft lottery on July 22 peaked at 378,000 viewers between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., when picks were announced – particularly impressive for a summer Friday afternoon. The numbers bode well for the net and the league as both work to win back disenchanted hockey fans (see story, p. 1).

Viewers were evidently drawn by the suspense of which team would win first pick in the draft and the opportunity to draft superstar player Sydney Crosby. It was won by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The only sports broadcast to attract more viewers over the July 22 weekend was CBC’s coverage of CFL football on July 23. Over 450,000 viewers tuned in to watch the B.C. Lions defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 28-22 on the Saturday night.

CFL coverage on TSN also attracted strong audiences over the weekend, with 326,000 viewers tuning in on Friday night to watch the Montreal Alouettes lose 46-51 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and 373,000 tuning in on Saturday to watch the Calgary Stampeders beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 44-18.

This season, average CFL audiences are up 5% over 2004, with an average 326,000 viewers tuning in to TSN for CFL games. So far, 14 games in total have aired. In 2004, for the same time period, the average audience was 311,000.

CBC’s weekend coverage of the World Aquatic Championships, which saw Canadian divers win a pack-leading three gold medals, also attracted respectable audiences, with 292,000 tuning in on Friday at 10 p.m. and 175,000 tuning in Saturday afternoon. Audiences slipped slightly to 131,000 on Sunday afternoon.

The pubcaster also hopes to attract audiences with its coverage of the IAAF World Track and Field Championships Aug. 6-14.

Global Television has also been doing its part to beat the summer television lull with key sporting events including car racing and tennis.

Early in July, Canadian viewers turned to Global for coverage of Wimbledon 2005. According to 2+ numbers from BBM Canada, the U.K. tennis championship attracted 275,000 on July 2, when Venus Williams captured her third women’s Wimbledon title in six years. Roger Federer’s defeat of Andy Roddick in the men’s final brought in 319,000 viewers July 3. According to Global, these numbers are consistent with last year’s, save for a 10% jump in the number of female viewers tuning in on Saturday.

Slightly fewer Canadians were lured inside to watch Edmonton’s Grand Prix for Champ Cars July 17. The event attracted 253,000 viewers, while the Molson Indy Toronto brought in 289,000 the week before. The Toronto race saw a 25% jump in its male audience aged 18-34 over last year.