TORONTO – Video on demand services and personal video recorders are now used in over a million Canadian households, says new data released today by Solutions Research Group, a Toronto-based market research firm.
Among key highlights of the research, done in May-June this year:
* 36% of digital cable households used VOD (translating into approximately 7% of all Canadian households). Half of the users paid for content and the other half only used “free” programs or services (like Treehouse TV, SVOD, TMNOD).
* Close to one-in-ten digital households (DTH or digital cable) have a PVR (just under 4% of Canadian households).
* On-demand makes people happy. Among those who have used VOD, 58% say it increased their enjoyment of television while 63% of PVR users say the same thing. And both VOD and PVR users express higher-than-average levels of satisfaction with their TV service provider.
“We are on the early part of the growth curve for on-demand television in Canada,” said Kaan Yigit, study director. “And, there is every indication of strong growth ahead based on very positive consumer response to greater flexibility and control,” added Yigit.
Perhaps a hint of things to come can also be seen in the emerging habits of younger Canadians. The study found that “homemade broadband TV on-demand” from P2P file-sharing sites is also beginning to grow in popularity among younger Canadians.
Thirteen percent of Canadians 12 to 29 report downloading a “30- or 60-minute TV show” from the Internet at some point in the past.
The information for this release comes from telephone interviews with 1,776 Canadians 12 and older in May/June 2005 conducted as part of Fast Forward, Solutions Research Group’s ongoing syndicated consumer trend research program. To maintain an unbiased perspective, Solutions Research Group funds its own syndicated research. The sample statistically reflects the regional and age/sex composition of the Canadian population. The results of the survey are accurate to ±2.3 points for the population as a whole, 19 times out of 20.
