Analysis of CRTC Choicebook: Public

Participants in the public process are not reflective of the population in Canada. In particular, 70% of participants were male.

Other features of the participants include:

• A younger group, though not under 25. For example, 27% are older than 55 years of age compared with 35% in Statistics Canada projections.
• A wealthier group. More than one in three claim to have household income above $100,000.
• 16% were not born in Canada.
• 70% first learned English and 23% French leaving 7% who learned some other language first.
• 47% of the participants are from Ontario, with 22% from Quebec.

Two thirds of participants chose the Phan option.

• Men (who represent a large portion of the public) are much more likely to choose Phan (70% versus 53%).
• People who watch TV primarily in French are much less likely to choose Phan (50%).
• Quebec residents are less likely (56%) and Albertans the most likely (76%) to choose Phan.
• Older participants are slightly less likely to choose Phan (60% of 65+ versus 70% of those 18 to 34).

Public participants are almost equally divided when it comes to the importance of local news.

• Women (61%) take Andrew and Mary’s position more than men (47%).
• Older participants are much more likely to choose Andrew and Mary (next slide), reflecting a major generational divide.
• Recent immigrants (less than 10 years) are more likely to choose Matthew (33%).
• French TV viewers are much more likely to choose Andrew and Mary (71%).

Pick and pay (51%) is the most preferred option.

• Men (57%) are particularly likely to choose pick and pay while women prefer pick a pack (49%). Only 37% of women prefer pick and pay.
• French TV viewers are much more likely to choose pick a pack (53%). Quebec is also the most likely to choose pick a pack (48%).

By a two to one margin, participants prefer Eva’s view that only those interested should pay for sports.

In general, this idea is widely shared. Demographic differences are small as all groups tend to lean toward Eva’s view.

About two thirds of participants want more direct access to American and International (non-US) channels.

• There is a significant age effect with younger participants much more likely to want more direct access to American channels (80% of those 18 to 24).
• Men (69%) are much more likely than women (56%) to want more direct access to the American channels. Differences are smaller when it comes to international channels.
• Immigrants (79%), particularly those who moved here in the last 10 years (84%) or 11 to 20 years (87%), want more access to international channels.
• French-language TV viewers are less likely to want more American. (38%) or international channels (60%).

Almost half of those who want more direct access would still want it if this meant paying more or if it meant that some Canadian-made shows and channels would no longer be available.

• Men who want more access are slightly more likely than women to be willing to pay (50% versus 43%) but are much more likely to still want access even if Canadian shows were not as available (45% versus 21%).
• Higher income is associated with a greater willingness to pay (57% of those with income $100k or more) and to want access regardless of its impact on Canadian programming (52%).
• French-language TV viewers are less likely to pay more (39%) or to want access if it impacts Canadian content (29%).

Just under half of participants (46%) would pay for a package that included direct access to international channels and certain Canadian channels together.

• Although men are more likely to pay for access to more direct access, they are actually less interested (41%) than women (59%) in accessing international channels this way.
• French-language TV viewers who are interested in more access like the package idea (64%).

Signal substitution is the preferred approach for balancing programming rights and viewer’s choice. Paying extra is the next most popular.

• The pay option is much more likely to be favoured by those who want more access to American stations (47%).
• Women (58%) are slightly more likely to favour signal substitution.
• Higher income participants are slightly more willing to pay extra (43% for those with income of $100k or more).
• Younger participants (48% for those under 35) are less likely to like signal substitution compared with older participants (62% for those 65+).

John’s view that online services should not have to contribute to Canadian-made programming is preferred over Jenny’s.

• Men (72%) are more likely to take John’s position as are younger people. Among 18 to 24 year olds, 74% take John’s view compared with only 62% of those 65 or older.
• French-language TV viewers are much more likely to support Jenny’s view (55%).

Almost all (86%) of those who take Jenny’s position are willing to pay an additional $0.50 per month to be able to choose more Canadian-made programming.

Less than half (41%) think online services should be required to have closed captioning (CC) and programming standards. For those whodo, 68% are willing to pay a few cents per month for online services to meet these requirements.

• Women (53%) and older participants (52% of those 65 or older) are more likely to think online services should have CC and standards.
• French-language TV viewers (48%) are also more likely to want CC and standards for online services.

A minority (29%) of participants would be willing to pay $5 per month to cover the cost of online streaming if this did not count against their data cap.

• Men (26%) are slightly less likely than women (34%) to agree.
• Higher income participants are more willing to pay the $5; 33% of those with $100k or more income would compared with 22% of those with less than $40k.
• French-language TV viewers are somewhat more likely to pay (35%).