Canadians are spending more on streaming than a year ago not because they are subscribing to more services, but due to the rising cost of those services and the growth in pricey sports SVODs.

That was one of the insights shared by Rogers Sports & Media at an event this week presenting the results of research conducted with polling firm YouGov.

The total spending on SVOD in Canada this year is $5.3 billion, up from $3.4 billion in 2022, representing growth of 55.8%. Time spent streaming has also increased in Canada – three hours and 18 minutes daily, on average, up by half an hour year-over-year. This is despite the fact that the number of streaming subscriptions per household has remained flat.

One thing that may explain these figures is one of the trends Rogers presented: the rise of ad-supported streaming. AVOD has reached 92% penetration among Canadians 18 to 34, who regularly use an average of 1.8 free services. YouTube was far and away the top service watched in the last six months (88% of respondents), but it was followed by streaming apps from Canadian TV networks, with Global watched by 26%)-, CTV and CBC Gem by 25% each and CityTV by 21%. FAST service Tubi was also watched by 25% of respondents, while recently launched Pluto is watched by 13%.

Canadians are more accepting of seeing ads on streaming services, with 59% open to it in exchange for a discounted discounted subscription, which is not too far behind the two-thirds who are only willing to see ads if the service is completely free. While only 26% of viewers say they’ve noticed an interactive ad while streaming, 57% of those who did ended up engaging with the ad in some way.

Another major trend Rogers pointed out was a changing mix of services due to subscription fatigue and cost. Most streaming (96%) is comprised of TV and mini-series. Among the 33% of Canadians who made a change to their SVOD subscription mix in the past year, 16% upgraded or added a new subscription, while 20% downgraded or cancelled at least one subscription. The main reasons given were to save money (44%), the cost went up (37%) and subscription sharing restrictions (31%), such as Netflix beginning to crack down on password sharing.

The third trend is that big screen viewing – as opposed to mobile – leads to better ad results, viewability and attention. Also, advertising in long-form programming leads to slightly higher engagement (47%) than short-form (42%).

Rogers’ research also isolated three profiles of streamers. “Complex Modern Viewers” are described as those who watch paid streaming, free streaming and linear TV at least once monthly. They make up 46% of Canadian adults and are typically families with older children. They skew more males (53%) and, of the three groups, are the highest-income households.

“Exclusive Streamers” use paid and free streaming monthly, but not linear TV. They account for 30% of adults are most likely to be young singles or couples without children. This group skews more female (57%) and 83% have at least one SVOD subscription.

“Next Gen Streamers” are between the ages of 18 and 24 and represent 10% of Canadians. They’re part of households that fall into either of the other categories, but don’t make subscription decisions. Almost equal by gender, nearly half are employed either full or part time and generally come from slightly lower-income households.