TORONTO – More than eight in 10 Canadians oppose mandatory inclusion on digital basic of the five new channels being considered for the priority carriage, according to a telephone survey of 1,000 Canadians polled March 18-22 by Strategic Counsel on behalf of Rogers Communications.
The survey of Canadians 18 years and older from across the country – 70% of whom were cable subscribers and 30% of whom were satellite TV subscribers – also revealed strong support for pick and pay options.
The CRTC is considering adding the new digital specialty TV channels Metis Michif Television and Canada One along with the French-language Canal Savoir, The Accessible Channel and All Points Bulletin to the basic package of digital cable.
Some 92% of respondents believe Metis Michif should be optional and available on a pick and pay basis; 86% believe Canada One TV should be optional; 82% believe that Canal Savoir should be optional; 80% believe The Accessible Channel should be optional; and 71% believe All Points Bulletin should be optional, according to the poll.
Moreover, only one in five (20%) believe that all the channels in their current basic packages should be required to be taken, the survey found.
“Canadians want to have the choice to pick and pay for the channels they watch. That’s what digital service should provide,” said Rogers Communications vice-chair Phil Lind. “There is very limited support for having these five channels added to digital basic service, however, we have no objection to their availability as optional services.”
The margin of error for a sample of 1,000 respondents is plus or minus 3.1%, 19 times out of the 20.
