Availability of VOD content doubled last year, CRTC data shows

The availability of video-on-demand (VOD) titles doubled across Canada’s eight largest TV providers between 2012 and 2013, the CRTC said on Monday, from 44,535 titles available from all eight providers in 2012 to 87,567 in 2013. The data, which the CRTC posted to its website, shows that BCE Inc. had the biggest increase in the number of total titles, increasing its library sixfold from 2,263 titles in 2012 to 12,293 a year later. The data, based on the number of titles available on Aug. 31, 2012 and the same date in 2013, also shows Rogers Communications Inc. nearly tripled its number of titles during that time, from 8,173 to 23,530. Independent broadcast consultant Kelly Lynne Ashton said in a phone interview that the increase makes “perfect sense” as part of a wider trend of broadcasters on the defensive against the streaming service offered by Netflix Inc. She said many of the mainstream broadcasters “have said repeatedly that what they want to do is build up alternatives to Netflix, to maintain subscribers within their system —within the regulated system if you’re looking big picture, but also within their particular system.” Over that year, Cogeco Cable Inc. doubled its library, from 4,186 to 9,451 titles, while MTS Inc.’s increased from 2,186 to 3,600 titles, Shaw Communications Inc.’s rose from 9,098 to 12,745, and SaskTel’s rose from 2,211 to 2,695. The number of titles available to Telus Corp.’s subscribers fell, from 15,037 to 10,638, as did the number available through Quebecor Inc. subsidiary Videotron, from 13,951 to 12,615. Mario Mota, analyst and co-founder of Boon Dog Professional Services, said in a phone interview that the big rise in the number of available titles shows the increasing importance of VOD “as a way to serve customers or offer greater choice or greater value.” While the availability of content is growing, the type of content is shifting too. In 2012, about 21,740 of the titles available from all eight providers were feature films, about half of the overall total. In 2013, feature films accounted for 36,824 available titles, while the overall number jumped to 87,567. As many titles are available on more than one service, the overall total does not reflect the number of individual titles but an aggregate of the numbers available from each provider. Mota said the numbers reflect the increasing importance of TV series and other non-feature film-type content. “Anecdotally, we already know broadcasters are making more and more TV series available on demand, so people can catch up on a full season of shows,” he said. “It’s all about a continuing trend to give consumers greater choice and flexibility in how they consume content — because if you don’t offer it to them that way, they’re going to find other places to go get the content.” The Wire Report reported in January that broadcasters in Canada and the U.S. are buying up the rights to offer complete seasons of television shows through various platforms, including video-on-demand, in an effort to help curb cord-cutting and to open up new advertising opportunities, including targeted ads. Ashton said the shift in content available could be due to changing consumption patterns. “They realize that what people like to do is pick up a series and binge on it, and you can grab those eyeballs for a lot longer than the occasional movie,” she said. “They’re responding to the way consumers are changing their habits.” — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Peter Henderson phenderson@thewirereport.ca

Availability of VOD content doubled last year, CRTC data shows

Broadcast | March 17, 2014

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Availability of VOD content doubled last year, CRTC data shows

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