Sunday Sizzles on CTV as MASTERCHEF CANADA Has Season-High Overnight Audience of 1.4 Million Viewers

– CTV's hit original drama MOTIVE returns with 1 million viewers, ranking as the #1 non-sports program in its timeslot with total viewers and in the key A18-49 demo –
– CTV owns Sunday, leading Global by 47% with total viewers –
– MASTERCHEF CANADA returns Sunday, March 22 on CTV –
– New episodes of MOTIVE continue next Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on CTV –

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TORONTO, March 9, 2015 /CNW/ - CTV was firing on all four burners Sunday night as MASTERCHEF CANADA kicked off the evening with a season-high overnight audience of 1.4 million viewers, preliminary overnight data from Numeris (BBM Canada) confirms. Sunday also saw the return of CTV's hit original drama MOTIVE, which premiered to 1 million viewers growing its lead-in of SECRETS AND LIES (926,000 viewers) by 8%, to battle it out to become the #1 entertainment program in its 10 p.m. timeslot with total viewers and A18-49. MASTERCHEF CANADA kicked off a strong Sunday for CTV, with the network leading Global from 7-11 p.m. by 47% with total viewers and 81% among A25-54, and with more than double the audience among A18-34 and A18-49. CTV delivered the Top 4 conventional programs with A18-49 with MASTERCHEF CANADA, ONCE UPON A TIME, MOTIVE, and SECRETS AND LIES.

A closer look at Numeris (BBM Canada) preliminary data for Sunday: 

• Once again winning its 7 p.m. timeslot, MASTERCHEF CANADA was up 23% among total viewers from last week's episode.
• ONCE UPON A TIME won its timeslot with total viewers (1.4 million) and was the #2 program of the night in all key demos.
• SECRETS AND LIES (926,000 viewers) saw growth over its premiere a week ago among A18-49 (+8%) and A25-54 (+3%).
• Building upon its lead-in, the Season 3 premiere of MOTIVE (1 million) on CTV led the simulcast of BATTLE CREEK (837,000, Global/CBS) at 10 p.m. by 19% with total viewers, 10% with A18-34, and 4% with A18-49. Last night's season premiere was also up 8% with total viewers over its Season 2 premiere just over a year ago.

**Media Note** – Download photos from CTV's Sunday night lineup at BellMediaPR.ca

In the next new episode of MASTERCHEF CANADA (returning in two weeks on Sunday, March 22 at 7 p.m./8 p.m. CT), the home cooks' second Team Challenge takes place on the University of Guelph campus, home to the school's ground-breaking food research department which has developed numerous food products, including the Yukon Gold potato. After being divided into teams, the home cooks test their culinary and entrepreneurial skills by creating crowd-pleasing poutine dishes to sell to hundreds of hungry students. Back in the MASTERCHEF CANADA kitchen, the members of the losing team must master a difficult stuffed pasta dish or face elimination.

In next week's episode of MOTIVE, "Calling The Shots" (Sunday, March 15 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV), Detectives Brian Lucas (Brendan Penny), Angie Flynn (Kristin Lehman) and Oscar Vega (Louis Ferreira) investigate the homicide of a high-end call girl, and their shocking discovery about the victim's double life complicates the investigation. Meanwhile, Angie adjusts to playing a supporting role to Lucas, who is the primary investigator, and finds herself distracted when new details of the Montgomery case emerge. Ally Sheedy guest stars.

Viewers can watch last night's episodes of MASTERCHEF CANADA, ONCE UPON A TIME, SECRETS AND LIES, and MOTIVE on demand at CTV.ca and CTV GO. The current and past seasons of MOTIVE are also available on CraveTV.

About CTV
CTV is Canada's #1 private broadcaster. Featuring a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming, CTV has been Canada's most-watched television network for the past 13 years in a row. CTV is a division of Bell Media, Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, digital, and Out-of-Home. Bell Media is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. More information about CTV can be found on the network's website at CTV.ca.

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- CTV -

Source: Numeris (BBM Canada), overnight vs. overnight

SOURCE CTV

Tanya Koivusalo, CTV Networks, 416.384.2664 or [email protected]; Christy Sullivan, CTV Networks, 416.384.3624 or [email protected]; Allie Page, CTV Networks, 416.384.4596 or [email protected]