ANALYSIS: The effects of economic slowdowns on subscriptions to multi-channel video services

By Suzanne Blackwell

There is growing consensus that Canada’s economy is heading into a recession as part of a broader international economic slow down. As consumers react to tighter economic conditions, it is generally expected that they will adjust their budgets, targeting discretionary spending first. A study published by JupiterResearch, discussed in MediaPost Online Media Daily on October 6, 2008, concluded that nearly one-third of consumers in the United States expect to cut back going out to the movies while 12% will reduce spending on premium cable programming channels and 2% will pull the plug on Internet services. To provide some Canadian perspective...