TORONTO – Canadians are split on whether cable companies should pay TV networks for their services, according to a new poll by Angus Reid.
In the on-line survey conducted last week of 1,027 Canadian adults, 40% of respondents said that they believe the cable companies should not have to pay the television networks for the right to broadcast their signals, while 38% said that they think that they should. 22% said that they were not sure.
Respondents in Ontario (43%) sided with the argument that cable companies should pay television networks for the use of their signals, while almost half of Quebecers (49%) rejected the notion. In Alberta and British Columbia, both sides are separated by only two percentage points.
The survey also found that two-in-five Canadians (43%) think that there would be more American shows with some local news if more television stations operated in Canada. Conversely, one-third of all respondents (33%) believe there would be more local and Canadian programming if more television stations were allowed to operate.
Overall, 51% of respondents think the amount of local television programming in their area is acceptable, while three-in-ten (30%) think there is too little local programming at this point.
