Who is Canada’s TV News Leader? Who Really is #1?

Canada’s TV networks regularly claim to be number 1 in news.  In recent years more than one network has claimed to be the most trusted, to have the largest audience or the best anchorperson.  The Media Trends Survey, which is independent of all the networks, has asked Canadians which network has the best national, international and local news for ten consecutive years.

CBC, CTV and Global offer national news programs, either in the early evening or late night.  The network judged as providing the best national news in 2011 was CBC TV (39%).  CBC News Network was chosen by an additional 8%, meaning that almost 1 in 2 Canadians choose CBC as the leader in national news. These results have been similar through the past ten years and don’t seem to have been affected by Peter Mansbridge sitting at a desk or standing at a podium. CTV was chosen by 21% and CTV News Channel by 7% in 2011, consistent with CTV’s results over the decade.  Global (10% in 2011) has been a distant third for the entire decade. Global has made a major investment in its news programming in recent years but it has yet to make a difference in public opinion.

For much of the decade CBC/CBC News Network have shared the lead with CNN/CNN Headline News as the networks of choice for international news, with CTV/CTV News Channel a distant third.  It says something about Canadians that 1 in 3 of us choose an American network as being the best source for international news coverage.  Covering the world is expensive and this prohibits even the CBC from expanding its international coverage.  Yet, there is clearly an opportunity for CBC and other Canadian networks in this category of news.   

Again this year CTV was the clear leader in local news, chosen by some 35% as having the best local news programming. CBC was second with 21%, its best year in the entire decade, while Global had 18% support in 2011.  CITY TV, which is not available to the entire country like CBC or CTV, trailed all channels with only 6% support.

As for being the most trusted network, CBC and CTV are co-leaders.    In the 2011 survey CBC/CBC News Network (29%/7%) were chosen as having the most trustworthy news, while CTV/CTV News Channel (26%/7%) were almost identical.  Clearly the two organizations have carved out a special place in the minds of Canadians.  CNN (4% in 2011) had its lowest numbers in ten years, perhaps a function of improvement in the Canadian networks as well as the politicizing of U.S. news networks over the past decade.

And, in case you were wondering, voters from all three main political parties choose CBC as having the best national news.  Liberal and NDP voters feel more strongly but even Conservative voters give thumbs up to CBC.

The 2011 survey results are from CMRI's Media Trends Survey conducted November-December 2011 among a representative national sample of approximately 900 Anglophone respondents aged 18-plus.  Margin of error +/-3.3%.  The Media Trends Survey has been conducted for ten consecutive years and has surveyed over 15,000 Canadians in total in this period. It is the only survey to have measured media use and attitudes continuously over this decade. The Media Trends Survey is not sponsored by any one industry or affiliated with a media company.  Therefore, the surveys are scrupulously designed not to bias respondents into favouring one medium or media outlet over another

Who is Still Using Rabbit Ears in this Day and Age?

A lot of Canadians lost their TV signal last fall.   In many cities and towns most TV stations converted to a new digital system of transmission, which offered better quality pictures to those who had digital TV sets but potentially disenfranchised those with older, analogue sets that were not connected to cable TV or satellite TV.

I wrote a report for the CRTC 6 years ago, the purpose of which was to determine how many Canadians watched TV via cable/DTH vs. over-the-air (OTA).  An update to that report a year later concluded, “Ten years ago 1 in 5 Canadians received TV off-air but this group now makes up only 1 in 10 Canadians ….the rate of conversion from OTA to cable/DTH has slowed and is unlikely to change dramatically in the coming years.”  This appears to be the case.

The 2006 study showed that 9.7% of Canadians depended on off-air viewing entirely and an additional number had a least one TV not connected to cable/satellite. Well, the 2011-12 Media Trends Survey shows that 9.7% of Canadians do not subscribe to cable, IPTV or DTH.  In other words, it’s déjà vu all over again.  The chart shows that not only do 1 in 10 still rely upon off-air reception to watch CBC, CTV, etc., but also that some 1 in 3 Canadians report that they have at least 1 TV not connected to cable or satellite.  This was very similar to results in last year’s survey. 

 

In 2011-12 some 18.2% report having at least one TV connected to the internet, which we explored for the first time this year.  The proportion with ‘internet TVs’ was similar in both OTA homes and in cable/DTH homes, signalling that OTA homes are not Luddites, they just want to watch TV over-the-air. 

Times have changed and since 2006 new options such as internet video streaming have been introduced. Thus,  OTA homes are no longer restricted to conventional TV broadcasts. Indeed, we found that in 2011-12 over-the-air homes were just as likely to subscribe to Netflix and that more OTA homes streamed video from the internet than cable/DTH homes. So, at least some of the OTA homes are not just dependent on rabbit ears to watch TV, they have embraced the new technologies.  Perhaps some have even recently abandoned cable/satellite.  Certainly, if you live in a city with access to a number of the new digital stations, the quality of the over-the-air HDTV signal is superior to that of cable/satellite, which might entice some (not many) viewers to cut the cord.  Our 2011-12 survey looked at this in some depth and a future post may examine cord cutting and ‘shaving’.    

We know a few things about OTA viewers, other than their age, sex, family income, etc. For example, they watch much less TV and listen to considerably less radio than their connected brothers and sisters, that is, they are not as interested in the main stream media.  (They are more dependent on newspaper as a main source of news.)

We also know that they are big fans of CBC TV.  1 in 3 say that CBC is their favourite station, four times more than cable/DTH subscribers.  No other station comes close. Likewise, 1 in 3 say that CBC is the one station they would choose if they could get only one. 

The Media Trends Survey shows that the majority (about 80%) of the TV/video consumed in OTA homes is conventional over-the-air TV and a large part of this OTA group are still relying upon their old analogue TVs.  CBC has maintained its analogue transmitters in some communities but if these are shut down, those viewers will no longer have ready access to CBC TV, unless they purchase new TVs or digital converters.

So, if CBC TV experiences a loss in audience ratings this year or next, CBC programmers should look no further than the viewers lost in transition to digital TV.

The 2011 survey results are from CMRI's Media Trends Survey conducted November-December 2011 among a representative national sample of approximately 900 Anglophone respondents aged 18-plus.  Margin of error +/-3.3%.  The Media Trends Survey has been conducted for ten consecutive years and has surveyed over 15,000 Canadians in total in this period. The Media Trends Survey is not sponsored by any one industry or affiliated with a media company.  Therefore, the surveys are scrupulously designed not to bias respondents into favouring one medium over another. 

No, Canadians are NOT Watching Less TV!

Since the dawn of the internet there has been an endless stream of articles claiming that the internet would result in the imminent demise of TV, not to mention radio, newspapers, bricks and mortar stores, banks, the post office and pretty much every other human activity, except eating and sex.  The decline of newspapers and a reduction in snail mail are real and undoubtedly caused by the internet.  The internet has affected almost everything that deals with the printed word. Who wouldn’t want at least occasionally to read the newspaper on line or send an email rather than go through the hassle of buying the paper or paying for stamps?  And, yes, I do most of my banking on line, which has saved me a lot of time (and money).    But, is the internet really taking time away from TV?

The answer is emphatically, no!  CMRI's Media Trends Survey has tracked usage and attitudes toward Canadian media, TV, radio and the internet, for the past ten years.  It is the only survey to have measured media use and attitudes continuously over this media centric, digital decade.  We have surveyed over 15,000 Canadians in this period, using a sophisticated survey instrument and a representative sample of respondents, not just those who are on-line, which is often the case in research today.  Most importantly, the Media Trends Survey is not sponsored by any one industry or affiliated with a media company.  Therefore, the surveys are scrupulously designed not to bias respondents into favouring one medium over another. 

In an earlier post we examined the monthly audience reach of the internet over the past 7-8 years.  In the chart below we track the weekly hours spent using the internet (at home, work or elsewhere). The surveys reveal that internet use basically doubled from 2004 to 2009, from just less than 6 hours per week to about 11 hours per week. But in the past 3 years internet use has stabilized at 10-11 hours per week. It may not grow much from this point on.

comScore, the internet ratings company that employs a sample of some 40,000 Canadians, reports basically the same levels of internet use as the Media Trends Survey. comScore reports data for 5,000 web sites; they could do more but feel that a '5,000 channel universe' is sufficient.  comScore reports that less than 5 % of internet use is with news and information sites.  Google and Facebook each account for more internet use than all news and information web sites combined.  Some perspective: this means that Canadians spend only about 30 minutes per week with news and information internet sites, Canadian as well as foreign.  The Globe and Mail’s web site, or cbc.ca, account for a tiny fraction of the 5%, each representing about 1/500th of all time spent using the internet in Canada, and therefore are unlikely in their present form ever to have the same impact as their print or broadcast versions.  This explains why web sites tout monthly audience reach (or unique visitors) rather than average minute audience or audience share of internet use, which take into account the time spent with a web site.   To compete in a 5,000 channel universe it seems new strategies are required.

TV use has been measured by the Media Trends Survey for ten consecutive years and it has been unaffected by the internet, remaining at about 19 hours per week through the decade, a decade when not only the internet but also many other media choices were introduced.  19 hours per week is less than ‘Nielsen’ ratings say but it is probably a more realistic estimate of the television audience.  Statistics Canada’s 2011 General Social Survey, conducted every 5 years or so and designed to measure how Canadians spend their time, mirrors the results of the Media Trends Survey.

Why has TV been so resilient?  There are a number of reasons, first among them is that programming is better and more relevant today than at any time in history.  HBO, The Movie Network, Superchannel, TSN, Sportsnet, Discovery, Space, A&E, Showcase and many other specialty channels have schedules filled with compelling programs that are superior to those of pre-internet times.  CNN, CBC News Network and another 5 or 6 news channels have the technology today to bring the viewer to any event or disaster in the world within minutes of it happening. Whether its news, sports or entertainment programming, choice today has expanded exponentially in quantity and quality.  In 2012 one can watch the latest movies or choose from a vast library of movies and TV programs on demand or watch an NHL game almost any day of the week on 3 or 4 different channels, including Saturdays, once CBC’s sacrosanct territory. As well, the older, established channels, including CTV, CBC, Global, and the U.S. networks have addictive new reality series, dramas that resemble Hollywood movies and comedy that makes The Cosby Show or Friends seem quaint. Not only are today's story lines, plot and execution of such high quality but producers and casting directors go to great lengths to showcase not only the most talented but the most beautiful people in the world.

Janina Gavankar of True Blood

Finally, in the past decade the TV set has undergone a revolution.  Today’s HDTV flat screen sets provide almost a cinema-like picture and prices for HD sets have plummeted in the decade.  All the channels mentioned above and many others now offer their entire schedule in HD, which can be accompanied by surround sound, equal to the best stereo system.  Cable and satellite companies have also made the viewing experience so much more convenient, offering pay per view, on demand and PVR services that ensure the viewer can watch favourite shows whenever they want.  We are in the golden age of TV and Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo and Google don’t stand a chance of replacing TV (unless they get into the TV business, which they are keen to do).

The 2011 survey results are from CMRI's Media Trends Survey conducted November-December 2011 among a representative national sample of approximately 900 Anglophone respondents aged 18-plus.  Margin of error +/-3.3%.  The Media Trends Survey has been conducted for ten consecutive years and has surveyed over 15,000 Canadians in total in this period. 

Death of the Canadian Newspaper?

Ten years ago newspapers in Canada were relied upon as a main source of news, second only to TV.  Today, far fewer rely upon the newspaper as their main source of what's going on in the world. Young, old, male, female, whatever demographic one looks at, the newspaper is but a shadow of what it was a decade ago.  This was revealed in our latest Media Trends Survey.

CMRI's Media Trends Survey has tracked usage and attitudes toward Canadian media, TV, radio, the internet and newspapers, for the past ten years.  It is the only survey to have tracked media use and attitudes continuously over this period.  Over 15,000 Canadians have been surveyed during this decade, using a sophisticated survey instrument developed over many years of experience and employing a representative sample of respondents, not just those who are on-line, which is often the case in research today.

In the past decade we have seen one very notable trend as far as news sources are concerned: the internet has grown from almost zero importance ten years ago to today, when 1 in 6 people say it is their main source for news.  At the start of the decade just under 60% said TV was their main supplier of news but in more recent years this has declined to about 50%.  Over the decade TV has lost ground to the internet but TV still represents the most important news source for the majority of Canadians, so Peter Mansbridge can breathe easy.  The newspaper has lost the most ground; less than 10% said it was their main source for news in 2011-12, less than half as many as at the beginning of the decade, perhaps a better indicator than declining circulation that newspapers must change to survive.  A decade ago newspapers were considered more important than radio and the internet but now the newspaper has fallen to fourth place among the four major sources of news.  This may not end well for Antonia Zerbisias and her print colleagues. At least they won't be blamed by the politicians for episodes like Vikileaks.

As is the case with other aspects of media use, demographics play a significant role in determining news choices.  Younger adults aged 18-34 are three times more likely to use the internet as their main news source when compared with adults aged 55-plus.  Males are more than twice as likely to use the internet as their main news supplier compared to females, who rely more on radio. Interestingly, CBC Radio 1 and 2 listeners are much less reliant on the internet and are far more likely to name radio as their main source of news, something CBC programmers should write down and store away carefully.  The newspaper, even among older Canadians, falls well back of TV and radio. Less than 5% of younger adults (18-34) depend on newspapers, which spells the end of the paper in another generation.  Newspapers everywhere are feverishly developing digital editions but comScore reports that less than 5% of internet use is spent with news and information sites, meaning that Canadians don't just depend on the established brands for their internet news.  In other words, news organizations would be wise to use social media and other portals to get their content read.  
 

Finally, the Media Trends Survey shows why Conservatives instinctively thought that the NDP were responsible for the anonymous tweeting about Vic Toews' personal life.  The Conservatives initially thought that the NDP were responsible but it turned out that a Liberal staffer was the culprit, who was a young male, perfectly matching the profile of the most internet-savvy in the 2011-12 Media Trends Survey. The Conservatives innately understood that NDPers are more reliant on the internet. In an earlier post we saw that both the NDP and Liberals are heavier users of Twitter than Conservatives but NDP supporters are about twice as likely to say the internet is their main source of news.  Liberals and Conservative supporters, i.e., those who voted that way in the spring 2011 federal election, actually fall below the national average when it comes to choosing the internet as their main supplier of news.  NDPers are the least reliant on newspapers but regardless of party affiliation, here as well, the newspaper has receded to last place as the main source for keeping up with the world.

The 2011 survey results are from CMRI's Media Trends Survey conducted November-December 2011 among a representative national sample of approximately 900 Anglophone respondents aged 18-plus.  Margin of error +/-3.3%.  The Media Trends Survey has been conducted for ten consecutive years and has surveyed over 15,000 Canadians in total in this period.