Canadians still tuning in to traditional TV, MTM report says

An increasing number of Canadians own media-rich smartphones and tablets as fewer watch television over the Internet exclusively, a new report by Media Technology Monitor (MTM) said. “Despite the rapid rise in the ability to watch TV on the Internet and widespread talk of cord-cutting, the number of Anglophone Canadians that watch TV exclusively online is still small—only 5%,” MTM, a joint-research project between CBC/Radio-Canada and BBM Analytics, said in its “Media Technology Adoption Fall 2012” report, released Tuesday. MTM said that percentage had risen slightly, from three per cent of the population that reported watching TV content exclusively over the Internet in 2010 and four per cent in 2011. It said two per cent of francophone Canadians said they watch TV online exclusively for its fall 2012 survey—a rate that has held steady since 2010. The report said 50 per cent of anglophone Canadians now own a smartphone while more than 25 per cent own a tablet. It said seven per cent of Canadians watch TV content on their smartphones, up from four per cent in the fall of 2011. MTM said six per cent of English-speaking people in Canada regularly watched TV on their tablets in the fall of 2012, up from three per cent in the same period a year earlier. Rates were similar in the French-speaking demographic as four per cent of francophone Canadians reported watching television on their smartphones and tablets. The rate of francophone Canadians who watch television on their tablets doubled over the past year, rising from two per cent in the fall of 2011. MTM said the number of francophones over 18 who are not connected to traditional television decreased from 2011, from five to four per cent. By contrast, the rate of “tuned out” anglophone Canadians—who have no working TV set, only watch DVDs, or only watch TV online or out of the home—rose from eight per cent in 2011 to nine per cent this fall, the report said. The Media Technology Adoption reports are based on telephone interviews with 4,000 anglophone Canadians and 4,000 francophones in the fall of 2012, MTM said. It added that its anglophone results are based on interviews conducted by Forum Research from Oct. 3 to Nov. 24, 2012, while its francophone results are based on interviews conducted by Ad hoc recherche from Oct. 25 to Dec. 5, 2012. The group said the results are accurate within plus or minus 1.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The release of the MTM survey follows a similar report by the Television Bureau of Canada (TVB) last week that said that 94 per cent of Canada’s population is still connected to television through a broadcast distributor or by receiving free, over-the-air signals. In the report, titled “Television Truths 2013,” the TVB said the figure is rising as more Canadians rely on conventional television. According to a BBM Analytics OmniVu survey conducted in March 2012 for the Television Truths report, 61.4 per cent of 1,000 respondents said they believe television was the “most influential” advertising medium. The report added that 17 per cent of respondents said the Internet was the most influential medium. The anglophone MTM report also found that 14 per cent of English-speaking Canadians subscribe to a TV service offered by a telco, such as BCE Inc.’s Fibe TV or Telus Corp.’s Optik TV services. That number is up from nine per cent in 2011, the report said. The francophone report found that seven per cent of French-speaking viewers subscribe to a telco TV service, up from three percent in 2011. “This number will increase as Bell will continue to deploy its Fibe TV service,” the French MTM report said. The Wire Report reported in October that cable companies Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. have lost TV customers to telecom providers like Bell and Telus, which are marketing their fibre-based IPTV services. Rogers reported in October a net loss of 58,000 cable TV customers for the first nine months of the 2012 fiscal year, and Shaw said this month that its loss of 23,912 cable customers in the first quarter of 2013 was its highest quarterly subscriber loss in 10 years. Bell said in November that its 42,973 net IPTV subscriber additions in the third quarter of 2012 were the most it had recorded in a single quarter. The MTM report added that 21 per cent of English-speaking Canadians now watch programming on Netflix Inc.’s over-the-top streaming service, which launched in Canada in 2010. It said that number had increased from 15 per cent in the spring of 2012. Five per cent of francophones subscribe to Netflix, MTM said, adding that increased from three per cent in the spring of 2012. —With reporting by Danika Grenier at dgrenier@thewirereport.ca and editing by Nicholas Kyonka at nkyonka@thewirereport.ca

Canadians still tuning in to traditional TV, MTM report says

Broadcast | January 29, 2013

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Canadians still tuning in to traditional TV, MTM report says

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