Millions of Canadians and those around the world gathered around screens and radios and at hundreds of public viewing events worldwide to celebrate Canada’s unofficial poet laureates, The Tragically Hip, as they brought down the house in an emotional and historic performance Saturday night in Kingston, wrapping up their final tour, Man Machine Poem Tour, after their lead singer, Gord Downie, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
According to Numeris, the live, commercial-free broadcast of The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration reached 11.7 million Canadians across all CBC television, radio and digital platforms as Gord Downie, Paul Langlois, Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay played the K-Rock Centre. The concert special was also streamed 900,000 times in Canada and around the world. The nearly three-hour Saturday evening broadcast attracted an average minute audience of 4.04 million.
The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration was broadcast nationally and streamed globally live and commercial free from 8:35 pm to 11:17 pm ET on Saturday, August 20th on CBC, CBC Radio One, CBC Radio One on SiriusXM Channel 169, CBC Radio 2, CBCMusic.ca/thehip, ICIMusique.ca, CBC Music’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, and the CBC Music app on iPhone, iPad and Android devices and the new Apple TV.
“It was an honor and a privilege for CBC to bring this unprecedented event to audiences across the country and around the world. This is public broadcasting at its very best,” said Heather Conway, executive vice-president of English Services at CBC. “For nearly three hours on a summer Saturday night, an entire nation paused to celebrate and pay tribute together. Thank you to Gord, Paul, Rob, Gord and Johnny for an intimate and unforgettable shared experience.”
