US-Canada game sets TV record

VANCOUVER: Canada's shock Olympic ice hockey loss to the United States was the most viewed sports program in Canadian television history, the Winter Olympic broadcast media consortium announced on Monday.

The group said 21.5 million people, 64.3 percent of Canada's population, watched at least some portion of the game on Sunday.

One day after the Americans ended a 50-year Olympic win drought against Canada with a 5-3 triumph in a showdown of National Hockey League icons, the telecasters said an average of 10.6 million viewers watched. That made it the most viewed sports program in Canadian television history, surpassing the average of 10.3 million people who watched Canada end a 50-year gold medal drought by beating the Americans in a 2002 Olympic final.