OTTAWA — CBC/Radio-Canada’s Media Technology Monitor (MTM) today released a new report that shows the number of Canadians, both English and French-speaking, who subscribe to paid TV services is still relatively high.
“Although paid TV subscriptions have been in decline for over a decade, they still remain fairly high with 69% of anglophone households having a paid TV service,” reads a press release highlighting MTM’s findings for the English Canadian paid TV market.
For French-speaking Canada, the percentage of households that subscribe to paid TV services is approximately 75% (three out of four), according to MTM’s research on the French market.
In both English and French Canada, cable remains the most popular type of paid TV service (33% and 42%, respectively), followed by fibre optic (23% and 25%) and satellite (13% and 8%), according to MTM.
Despite the growing popularity of SVOD services, such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, “anglophones report spending more time watching traditional TV than SVOD services. SVODs rather supplement TV subscriptions, with more than half of anglophones having both a paid TV service and an SVOD subscription,” MTM’s press release says.
Similarly, MTM’s French research found francophones also spend more time watching traditional TV than SVOD services. “SVOD service subscriptions are often used in conjunction with traditional pay TV services,” says an English translation of MTM’s findings.
MTM’s research on the English paid TV market found Canada’s Big Three providers — Bell, Rogers and Telus — “represent close to three-quarters of the anglophone TV market. Bell leads the way, providing their services to 27% of paid TV subscribers, followed by Rogers (17%),” says the press release.
For the francophone TV market, Videotron holds 38% of the pay TV market, followed by Bell at 27%, according to MTM’s report. “More specifically, Bell dominates the satellite and fibre optic television market, while Videotron dominates the cable television market,” the English translation says.
MTM also found most TV subscribers bundle their subscription with other services offered by their provider.
“Regardless of their service provider, few anglophones are opting in for just a paid TV service. A majority of Bell, Telus, Rogers, Videotron, Eastlink and Cogeco customers have 3 or even 4 services from the same provider,” MTM says in its press release.
The same is true for francophone TV subscribers. “Most television subscribers also opt for other services offered by their provider. The customers of Videotron, Bell, Telus and Rogers largely subscribe to three or even four services of the same provider,” the English translation says.
To access MTM’s English report, please click here. For its French report, please click here.
Image courtesy of MTM.
