Over the last decade, Canadians’ interest in SVOD services has grown, while linear TV subscriptions have declined. However, a large segment subscribes to both. A recent MTM report finds that interest in both services has been on the rise since 2013.
The study, which is based on a survey of 8,712 Canadians conducted between October and December of last year, reveals that the majority of households have a TV or SVOD service subscription. Two-thirds subscribe to a linear TV service, and nearly four out of five consume a SVOD platform, such as Netflix or Disney+. Only 7% of households don’t subscribe to any video service.
More than half of Canadians are interested in both – around 51% currently have access to a linear TV service and an SVOD platform in their home. According to respondents, having both types of service offers them a greater variety of content and more choice in what they can watch.
Those who have both types of service report watching 22 hours of TV or SVOD content per week. This group leans more toward linear TV, accounting for nearly two-thirds of their average viewing. Those who watch SVODs only report watching 11.36 hours per week, while those who subscribe only to TV report watching 20.8 hours.
Canadians who subscribe to both TV and SVOD also watch a lot of AVOD and FAST channels.
The age profile of TV and SVOD subscribers reflects the general population, according to MTM. While subscribers with only linear TV are older, and those with SVOD are younger, households with both types of service are somewhere in the middle. The majority of people who use both services are between the ages of 50 and 64, followed by those aged 35 to 49, 65 and up, and 18 to 34.
But why do Canadians still subscribe to a TV service with all content available through SVODs? The report shows that they continue to turn to TV for news and sports primarily. While there are SVODs dedicated to sports content, they can be more expensive than other platforms and have more limitations on the programming available than a TV service, says MTM.
Moreover, although news content is available on the Internet, TV remains an easy place to access news. Respondents say that TV offers multiple news channels 24 hours a day, providing them with uninterrupted coverage.
Other reasons for keeping their TV subscription are bundled offers. More than one third of TV and SVOD subscribers opted for TV because they had received a good offer. This reason is more common among older Canadians than younger ones.
The report also finds that Francophones are more likely than Anglophones to keep their TV service so they can watch news, talk shows, drama and reality shows. TV continues to play a key role in Quebec’s francophone culture, so they are more likely to see value without an offer to entice them to subscribe, according to MTM. English speakers, meanwhile, subscribe more to TV for sports.
Men are more likely to keep TV along with their SVOD subscriptions to watch news and sports than women. And women are more likely to say they subscribe to TV in addition to SVOD to watch reality shows and drama.
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