All 81 Canadian Football League games on TV this season

Toronto, Ontario – The Canadian Football League (CFL) announced today the official broadcast schedule for the upcoming 2006 season, which sees all 81 regular season games broadcast by CBC or TSN. RDS, the CFL’s French language partner also confirmed that they will once again provide season-long coverage of the Montreal Alouettes. Also included in the broadcast lineup for 2006 is the CFL’s Touchdown Atlantic preseason game on TSN and RDS, the tradition of CFL on CBC for the Labour Day and Thanksgiving Day Classics and full coverage by CBC and RDS of the Scotiabank Semifinal and Championship games, and the 94th Grey Cup. Following the most successful CFL season in TSN's 21-year history, drawing a per game average audience of 395,000 viewers*, TSN returns to the gridiron in 2006 with a 55-game CFL broadcast schedule featuring a minimum of 27 games in High Definition on TSN HD. Among the high profile match-ups in this year's schedule is the second edition of the Touchdown Atlantic preseason game which sees the Montreal Alouettes face off against the Ottawa Renegades in Halifax on June 3rd. Additional highlights include an opening day double-header on June 16 featuring a rematch of last year's Grey Cup with Edmonton at Montreal, directly followed by Hamilton at B.C. TSN will also provide live coverage for the regular 2006 season finale featuring Saskatchewan at B.C. on October 28th. TSN's 2006 CFL broadcast schedule features Wendy's Friday Night Football broadcasts every week throughout the regular season, Wendy's CFL Live games during the week and 10 doubleheaders. (*Source: Nielsen Media Research; All audience figures 2+)In 2006, CBC adds five more regular season games to its line-up, with a total of 27 to be aired nationally. CBC will also continue its 55-year coverage of the CFL playoffs and the Grey Cup game to be played on November 19th in Winnipeg. With audience reach swelling to some of the highest levels in over a decade, 2005 proved to be a great year for CBC game broadcasts. On October 10, CBC recorded their highest regular season audience ever when 909,000 viewers** tuned in to watch Winnipeg host B.C. In addition, post-Thanksgiving average audience numbers for CFL on CBC game broadcasts grew to 532,000 from 474,000 viewers**, up 15 per cent over the equivalent period in 2004. The 2005 Grey Cup saw more than three million Canadians tuning in; the game audience peaked at 4.2 million**. (**Source: Nielsen Media Research; All audience figures 2+)For the 2006 CFL season, RDS returns as the exclusive French language broadcaster for the Montreal Alouettes 18-game regular season schedule and will continue into the post-season with coverage of all CFL playoff games and the 94th Grey Cup. New to the RDS schedule for 2006 is the Touchdown Atlantic preseason match-up between Montreal and Ottawa on June 3rd in Halifax. RDS on-air personalities Denis Casavant and Pierre Vercheval return to the line-up to provide live play-by-play coverage, with David Arsenault taking to the sidelines with in-depth commentary at field level. An average of 200,000 viewers*** tuned in RDS for the 2005 CFL season with 796,000** watching the live broadcast of the Edmonton and Montreal Grey Cup match-up in Vancouver. (***Source: BBM; All audience figures 2+)Details on the CFL’s international broadcast schedule will be released over the coming months.About the Canadian Football LeagueThe Canadian Football League (CFL) operates in nine leading cities across Canada. Building on a strong past toward a stronger future, the CFL celebrates Canada's game with fans across the nation. The 94th Grey Cup will be played in Winnipeg, Manitoba on November 19, 2006.