The connected TV audience has tripled over the last two years

MTM's latest data also found that Netflix's popularity is slipping.
By Patti Summerfield
April 12, 2023

The latest Media Technology Monitor data looks at how Canadians consume streaming content through their TVs, and the audience is booming.

MTM found that 91% of Canadian households own a TV set, a level of household penetration that has stayed relatively stable. But the amount of those sets that connect to the internet has skyrocketed: 74% of Anglophones say they connected their TV screen to the internet in some way in the past month (either through built-in capabilities or an external device), compared to 21% who did so in 2021.

Younger demographers are more likely to be using a connected TV set, with penetration reaching 85% among 35- to 49-year-olds (85%) and 81% among 18- to 34-year-olds (81%). Racialized (79%) and Indigenous (83%) peoples are more likely to have an internet-connected TV, possibly due to the fact that hese demographic groups skew younger than the general population.

Different age groups use different intermediaries for making connection to the internet. More than half (52%) of internet-connected TV set owners use the built-in connection, with 44% indicating they use an external streaming media device. No one media streaming device stands out as the most popular, with Roku and Amazon’s Fire Stick in a slight lead at 14%, followed by Google Chromecast at 13% and Apple TV at 10%.

Other devices used include their digital TV box (23%), computer or laptop (23%) or a game consoles (21%) to make the connection. Two-fifths of 18- to 34-year-olds use a game console as an intermediary, while those over 50 are more likely to be using a digital box provided by their TV service provider to make the connection.

Internet-connected TVs are most popular amongst SVOD subscribers (representing 87% of Anglophone adults), who are more than six times more likely to connect the TV to the internet than those who don’t subscribe.

Top SVODs subscribed to are Apple TV+ (94%), Crave (93%), Disney+ (92%), Amazon Prime (91%) and Netflix (90%), the last of which has dipped in popularity as the company has raised prices and cracked down on password sharing. Nearly half of YouTube viewers (46%) also view the service via internet-connected TV, although smartphones (73%) and computers (62%) are used more often.