Stars make TV magic
Blue Bloods stars make beautiful ratings together
Who knew that Magnum, P.I. and a New Kid on the Block could make TV magic together? But such is the case with Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg and their CBS/CTV police drama Blue Bloods. The show regularly cuts a swath through Canada’s list of top 10 weekly programs, and it celebrated its 150th episode on March 31.
That instalment, A Deep Blue Goodbye, took in 1.6 million Canadian viewers and 9.6 million U.S. ones — roughly the same number on both sides of the border for the April 6 episode, Love Lost. An eighth season of Blue Bloods is already on tap for this fall.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Kevin Wade hinted at what’s ahead for the season-ender on May 5: “In the finale, a character who’s been with us for a long time, there’s a straw that breaks that camel’s back, and that character bows out of his life in our fictional world of Blue Bloods.”
Elsewhere in the list of 30 mostwatched programs, usual suspects The Big Bang Theory, Survivor and NCIS scored the sweetest spots. In Edmonton, though, hockey in its various forms ruled the top three, while Vancouverites opted for NCIS. Over in Calgary, Montreal and the GTA, Big Bang won out.
Here are the top programs in Canada for the week of April 3-9, the most recent ratings available, courtesy of audience measurement organization Numeris: 1. The Big Bang Theory, CTV 2. Survivor, Global 3. NCIS, Global 4. Hockey Night in Canada, CBC 5. Designated Survivor, CTV 6. NCIS: New Orleans, Global 7. Bull, Global 8. Blue Bloods, CTV 9. Criminal Minds, CTV 10. Grey’s Anatomy, CTV 11. MacGyver, Global 12. Hawaii Five-0, Global 13. Chicago P.D., Global 14. The Voice, CTV 15. NCIS: Los Angeles, Global 16. CTV Evening News, CTV 17. The Amazing Race, CTV 18. MasterChef Canada, CTV 19. Big Brother Canada (Wed.), Global
20. Hometown hockey: Leafs (Sun.), Sportsnet National
21. Marvel’s Agents S.H.I.E.L.D., CTV 22. CTV National News, CTV 23. Chicago Fire, Global 24. Chicago Justice, Global 25. Chicago Med, Global 26. The Voice Results, CTV 27. Saturday Night Live, Global 28. Big Brother Canada (Thurs.), Global
29. Big Brother Canada (Mon.), Global
30. Hockey: Leafs (Mon.), Sportsnet National