Canada's TV viewership holds steady despite streaming options


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Michelle Clancy

| 30 October 2015





While Canadians' time spent watching conventional television declined slightly across all age groups in 2014, the overall average remained stable at 27.4 hours each week compared to 27.9 hours in 2013.


According to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's (CRTC) 2015 Communications Monitoring Report Canadians aged 18 and over also watched 2.7 hours of television content over the Internet, an increase from 1.9 hours the previous year, and 8% of Canadians report watching television exclusively online.

The percentage of Anglophones who watched Internet video content on a tablet grew from 20% in 2013 to 26% in 2014, while among Francophones it increased from 16% to 25% during the same period. The amount of Internet video content consumed on a smartphone grew from 23% in 2013 to 38% in 2014 for Anglophones, while it increased from 16% to 27% during the same period among Francophones.

The percentage of Canadian households subscribing to cable, satellite or Internet Protocol television (IPTV) services went from 83.7%, or 11.8 million households, in 2013 to 82%, or 11.6 million households, in 2014. IPTV, a relatively new means of receiving television services, grew more than four-fold to over 1.7 million subscribers in the last five years.

In 2014, total broadcasting revenues increased 1.4% to reach $17.3 billion. The broadcasting sector invested nearly $3 billion in the creation of new television content made by Canadians, as well as nearly $60 million in new Canadian audio content and to support Canadian artists.