TORONTO – Commercial television remains the dominant video-viewing medium in Canada, according to a new study conducted by Ipsos Reid MediaCT for the Television Bureau of Canada (TVB).
The study, entitled ‘The New TV Landscape: Understanding Broadcast Television within the New Media Landscape in Canada’, indicates that 83% of the time spent watching video was spent watching commercial television.
TVB engaged Ipsos Reid MediaCT to answer the following question: In this new world of watching video and the media options available – how are Canadian viewing habits changing? The company then conducted a three-phase study (behavioural, attitudinal, ethnographic) utilizing its iSay online panel with a sample of greater than 2,500 respondents.
Highlights from the study include:
– 8 in 10 online Canadians (Adults 18+) who viewed video yesterday spent four hours watching video, representing 27% of their day;
– Of this four hours spent watching video, three hours and 18 minutes (83%) of this time was spent watching commercial television, 12 minutes (5%) were spent watching non-commercial TV (Netflix, online store, premium tv network online), and 30 minutes (12%) were spent watching grey zone (disc, YouTube, social network, peer to peer);
– Among online Canadian Adults 18+, seven hours per day were spent with media. Four hours (47%) of that media time was spent watching video; 20% was spent browsing; 12% was spent listening; 9% was spent reading; 6% (25 minutes) was devoted to social networking, and 6% was spent gaming;
– 80% of viewing hours were consumed on a TV; 15% on a desktop or laptop, and surprisingly, only 2% occurred on a smartphone; 2% on a tablet, and 1% on an MP3 player;
– For Millenials, (Adults aged 18-34 – represented by a subsample of at least 700 respondents in research), 63% of video watching time was spent with commercial television; 12% with non-commercial TV (Netflix, online store, premium TV network online) and 25% with grey zone (disc, YouTube, social network, peer to peer).
“Clearly, we’re seeing a disconnect between the amount of “buzz” about the new world of watching video and the degree of impact various video options are actually having on Canadian viewing habits,” said TVB president and CEO Theresa Treutler, in the study’s news release. “This new research provides self-reported insight into the actual video viewing behaviour of Canadians, indicating that compelling commercial television content is the driving force behind time spent.”
