11.7 million people tuned into The Tragically Hip’s concert on Saturday

Saturday night was owned by The Tragically Hip.

Performing the band’s final concert of its 15 date Man Machine Poem tour, the Hip and CBC partnered to bring Canadians closer to Canada’s band for a commercial-free concert called “A National Celebration.”

Available to anyone around the world to watch via its TV, radio, online stations, iPhone and Android apps, and YouTube, viewership numbers reveal Canadians maintain intense relationship with the group.

“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 final date of their Man Machine Poem tour at Kingston’s 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,” stated the release.

Lead singer Gord Downie was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, specifically a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor. If you’re interested in showing support, Sunnybrook has set up the “Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research” that has a goal to invest in new drugs, surgical techniques and genetic therapies to beat “unbeatable” brain cancers.

[source] CBC [/source]