Canadians are increasingly favouring specialty TV over conventional: survey

Canadians are increasingly turning to specialty channels as their preferred television viewing option because of better programming, according to a recent national consumer research survey. The study found that 47% of Canadian TV viewers say they prefer specialty channels to conventional networks, with only 31% stating they prefer conventional networks. "The results of this study are consistent with Nielsen Media Research data, which clearly indicate that audiences for specialty channels have overtaken audiences from conventional television channels," says Brad Alles, senior VP of sales and promotion at Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting. "…In the end the message is clear, Canadians prefer the programming on specialty and are spending more time with the specialty channels. This shift represents an enormous opportunity within our industry." Chris Kelly, president of The Strategic Counsel, which was commissioned by Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. to undertake the study, notes that this research provides attitudinal data on why the shift from over-the-air TV viewing to specialty is happening and to what extent it is occurring. Alliance Atlantis owns a number of specialty channels, including HGTV, the History Channel, and Showcase. "One of the things that our study shows is the reason for the shift. We asked people what is their preference and which is better. And we get either the majority or the plurality identifying specialty, and by far the strongest reason is that there is better quality programming on specialty," Kelly tells Canadian Communications Reports. "It’s more focused, it gives them more of what they want in terms of particular types of programming…If you think of some of the channels that emerge with some strength like Discovery and HGTV - it’s well produced, entertaining, interesting programming that is focused on particular subject matters. That seems to be what they are most interested in and most likely to use as the differentiator between conventional and specialty services," he says. He adds, "Certainly, some of the conventional programming still generates great numbers - such as reality TV shows like American Idol - but even with those kinds of programming and that surge in audience for the conventional networks during programs, people are still saying that when I compare the two, specialty is better." Among those favouring specialty TV viewing, 44% indicate that better quality and/or more interesting programming are the main reasons for their preference, according to the study, entitled State of Specialty: Wave One. It also revealed that almost 40% of viewers are more likely to go to specialty TV channels first when they are looking for something to watch and do not have a viewing appointment. Only 27% of viewers indicate that they would go to a conventional network first when not tuning in for a specific program. "People now are saying, ‘I often don’t have appointments, and when I don’t have appointments for television and I want to watch, I’ll go to specialty first. That came out quite strongly," Kelly notes. "And people said that they, in fact, had a fairly small cluster of five or six (specialty TV) channels that they would go to when they were looking for something to watch." In the last two to three years, 45% of survey respondents said they spent more time watching specialty channels, 36% said the same amount of time, and 19% said their time had decreased. The results of the survey were presented April 28 at the first annual Spotlight on Specialty Television session in Toronto. During the presentation, Nielsen Media Research data were also cited that show the share of hours tuned to specialty and pay TV by adults aged 25-45 increased from 35.8 in 1998-99 to 50.1 in 2003-04. In contrast, the share of hours tuned to conventional TV declined from 64.2 to 49.9 during the same period. State of Specialty: Wave One is based on 1,174 telephone interviews with Canadians randomly selected from the general population. The sample excludes people without televisions. The sample was drawn proportionately from Canada’s top ten urban markets of Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Interviews were completed from January 14 to 30 of this year. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9%, 19 times out of 20. Kelly says it is anticipated that the study will be repeated next year for comparison over time.

Canadians are increasingly favouring specialty TV over conventional: survey

Broadcast | May 6, 2004

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