OTTAWA – Seven percent of Canadians are reporting they own a high definition TV set and the number of folks saying they have no plans to purchase one has fallen to its lowest recorded level, says the annual TV Quality Survey.
The survey, conducted annually by Ottawa-based Canadian Media Research Inc., was conducted in October-November 2005 among a sample of 1,614 English-speaking Canadians aged 18-plus.
That sample reported on average they have 160 channels of TV available on their main TV set, which is 6.96 years old.
In 2005 some 7% of respondents said they already had an HDTV set – and the size of the group who said they are not at all likely to purchase an HD set shrank to 53%, its lowest since we began tracking. (Which, of course, means almost half are either going to purchase or would like to buy an HD set)
Other top-line data from the survey includes:
* Interest in an instant playback feature, i.e., a digital PVR, has doubled in the past four years.
* Virtually four out of five digital cable and DTH subscribers say they ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ order pay per view movies or events.
* Generally, Canadians report that they are quite satisfied with TV. Less than 3% said they were very dissatisfied with the medium in 2005. Satisfaction with cable TV and DTH is equally high.
* TV remains the overwhelming primary source for news (+50%) but the Internet for the first time in 2005 was chosen by almost 1 in 10 people.
* The majority of Canadians think that some part of their monthly cable/DTH bill goes to local TV channels but only about 10% believe that it is 50% or more of the bill.
* News, especially local news, national news and weather top all program categories that people say they are most interested in.
* CTV leads all channels in terms of viewer satisfaction. Some 36% said they were ‘very’ satisfied with CTV. This is the first time a conventional channel has finished first in terms of viewer satisfaction.
* Other channels with high viewer satisfaction scores were Global, The Weather Network, Discovery and HGTV.
* CBC was viewed as having the best national news, while CTV was considered a leader in terms of local news. A Channel was second choice for local news, the first time the channel has done so well (which bodes well for CHUM’s takeover, broad expansion and revitalization of the brand).
* CTV has taken over the leadership position from CBC as being the most trusted source for news (which should be troubling for the Corp.).
* Discovery was viewed by a large majority as providing the best science and nature programming; A&E is reported to have the best documentary programming; The Weather Network was chosen by a very large majority as having the best weather forecasts; CBC was chosen as the best network for Canadian programming.
* Among digi-nets, National Geographic, Biography, Fox Sports, BBC Canada, Showcase Action, Discovery Civilization, Showcase Diva and Animal Planet were among the leaders in consumer awareness and/or viewer satisfaction.
The TV Quality (TVQ) Survey is a national survey of Canadians’ attitudes toward television conducted annually by CMRI. A large number of Canadian specialty channels and conventional broadcasters are subscribers to the TVQ Survey.
The primary purpose of the survey is to test consumer awareness of the many TV channels available today via cable TV, DTH or over-the-air. The TVQ Survey also measures viewer satisfaction with the dozens of TV services now available, including the new digi-nets, many of which have initially struggled to find an audience.
Over 100 Canadian and U.S. networks were measured in the 2005 survey.
In addition, the TVQ Survey measures viewer awareness and satisfaction with a large number of Canadian and U.S. TV series, quantifies the brand strengths of conventional and pay/specialty channels and explores opinions about a wide variety of issues surrounding TV.
The TVQ Survey has been conducted for the past four years among a representative sample of 1,500 or more Anglophone adults.
Fieldwork for the 2005 TVQ Survey was conducted in October-November 2005 by Comquest, a subsidiary of BBM (Bureau of Broadcast Measurement), employing a 19-page mail questionnaire sent to former BBM TV survey respondents.
Such a survey is commonly referred to as a return-to-sample (RTS) survey and is an effective way of collecting data on the qualitative reactions of TV viewers. Comquest/BBM have been conducting RTS surveys for many years.
The 2005 TVQ Survey involved a sample of some 1,614 Anglophone respondents aged 18-plus. One person per household was chosen at random to complete the TVQ Survey questionnaire. The margin of statistical error for a sample of this size is +/-2.5%.
The response rate to the survey from the initial mail-out was approximately 40%, a relatively high response rate for a mail survey. To encourage response to the TVQ Survey, the questionnaire was made as simple to complete as possible and a monetary incentive was included with the questionnaire.
For more, contact Barry Kiefl, president, Canadian Media Research Inc., Ottawa. bkiefl@sympatico.ca
