How High Can They Go?

The cheers could be heard all the way from Vancouver.
And we're not just talking about the rabid hockey fans who all but blew the roof off Canada Hockey Place on Wednesday night during their hockey heroes' 7-3 demolition of Russia in a quarter-final showdown (that really wasn't much of one) at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.
Rather, we speak of the suits that run Canada's Olympic Media Broadcast Consortium, who no doubt erupted with glee when they saw the enormous (but hardly surprising) audience figures for the game.
BBM Canada figures released today indicate Canada-Russia was watched by an average audience of 10.5 million, making it the second-most watched sports program in Canadian television history. Only Sunday's Canada-U.S. matchup (10.6 million) rated higher.
There's more. The game had a total reach of 21.6 million (two-thirds of the Canadian population) and was watched by 9.3 million on CTV alone.
The best might be yet to come. Consider that the Canada-Russia game was a) never really competitive, b) played on a Wednesday night and c) was only a quarter-final game. Canada-Slovakia in semifinals has the potential to be record-breaking, given that a berth in the gold-medal game is on the line and it's being played on a Friday night.
(yes, the 9:30 p.m. start time seems odd, but that means everyone in the Mountain and Pacific time zones will be home from their jobs in plenty of time to watch it. As for those out east ... hey, it's a Friday night. Break out those six-packs and just give 'er).
It boggles the mind to think what kind of number a gold-medal game involving Canada on a Sunday afternoon might produce. Some 10.3 million tuned in eight years ago at Salt Lake City 2002. I'd say 15 or even 20 million isn't out of the question this time (factoring in that the new personal people meter measuring system has inflated all TV ratings).
So yes, it's pretty easy to presume some of those cheers coming from the Left Coast on Wednesday night emanated from the offices of CTV's bigwigs in Vancouver. And they might well just be warming up, indeed.
*****
The weather outside is a bit frightful, which has had the predictable effect on my satellite TV system. Meaning I'm giving extra thanks for all the live Olympic coverage available at CTVOlympics.ca.
Not a bad way to go, if you ask me. Nope, not so bad at all.