The CRTC, in its annual report on the state of the Canadian communications industry, found that Canadians are more wired than ever and consuming more content across all platforms.

Over revenues for the communications industry increased 3.3% in 2011 to $59.3 billion, up from $42.7 billion the year previous, according to the report.

“This report is used to gauge whether the communications industry is meeting the needs of Canadians as consumers, citizens and creators,” said CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais in a statement.

“Canadians are enthusiastic consumers of creative content, whether it is offered on television, radio or through digital platforms. The fact that they are spending more time watching or listening to programming is good news for Canadian creators,” he added.

Canadians in 2011 watched an average of 28.5 hours of TV, up from 28 hours in 2010, and they listened to an average of 17.7 hours of radio, up slightly from 17.6 hours the previous year.

Digital media content consumption also showed an uptick. Typical digital media users, according to the CRTC report, watched 2.8 hours of internet TV per week, up from 2.4 hours in 2010. And 4% of Canadians reported watching TV only online, while 4% watched on smartphones and 3% on tablets.

Of the 13.4 million households in Canada, 78% had an internet subscription in 2011, with 54% of households utilizing download speeds of at least 5 MB per second (up from 51% the year previous).

And Canadian households that subscribed to basic television services increased by 2.2% to 11.8 million, or 89.6% of all households.

Cable companies served 69.9% of subscribers, while satellite and IPT services served the remainder of subscribers (24.5% and 5.6% respectively).

Communications industry revenues were up from $57.4 billion in 2010, while revenues for broadcasting services also grew by 5.5% to $16.6 billion, and telecommunications services revenues were up 2.5% to $42.7 billion.

From Playback Daily