Sunday’s Olympic gold medal hockey game was ratings gold for both CTV and NBC.

According to BBM Canada overnight ratings, an average of 16.6 million people watched Team Canada defeat the U.S. 3-2 in overtime on the CTV-Rogers consortium’s eight channels. That average sets an all-time record for viewing in Canada.

The game was actually viewed by more people south of the border, with NBC reporting an average audience of 27.6 million – the largest for hockey since the U.S. defeated Finland for gold at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.

“These are staggering numbers,” said consortium president Keith Pelley. “It was a great privilege for all of us at the consortium to be involved in such a historical event.”

The consortium reports that 26.5 million Canadians watched some part of the game, meaning 80 per cent of the country tuned in at some point.

Two-thirds of the country, or 22 million people, were watching when Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal.

While the Canadian ratings system changed in August and has been tracking higher audiences on average, Sunday’s game does compare with the previous landmark sports event in terms of audience share.

CTV estimated that an average of 13.3 million people watched the final game of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviets, calculated by a ratings system based on viewer diaries. It also estimated that 18 million people watched some of the game, 82.5 per cent of the population at the time.

The most-watched sports event under the metered system used until last year was 10.3 million for the 2002 Olympic hockey final between Canada and the U.S. But that system did not measure viewing outside the home, such as in bars and on giant outdoor screens.

Sunday’s game was carried on nine consortium channels in eight languages, whereas the 2002 game was only on CBC and French-language SRC.

The final was the third most-watched hockey game in American history, with the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” match between the U.S. and Soviets tops at 34.2 million. The subsequent gold medal game against Finland was watched by 32.8 million.

Though the game’s audience paled in comparison with the Super Bowl’s 106.5 million, it ranked ahead of the Grammy Awards (25.9 million) and Rose Bowl (24 million.)

The game and the closing ceremonies, which attracted an average audience of 14.3 million viewers, capped a phenomenal ratings story for the consortium.

Its coverage averaged 5.8 million viewers over 17 days, 66 per cent higher than the comparable Salt Lake City Olympics.

During the Olympics, CTV won every timeslot in prime time every day, for total viewers and the prime advertising demographics.

TSN tripled its full-day audience to become the second most-watched network in Canada during the Games, with Rogers Sportsnet third.

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The Olympics also delivered the five biggest audiences in Canadian history. Three of those were Team Canada hockey games while the opening and closing ceremonies comprised the other two.

The Games were the second most-watched Winter Olympics in U.S. history, with only the 1994 Lillehammer Games drawing more viewers. They even outdrew the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.