IPTV, Netflix adoption lower in Ontario: MTM

Ontario residents are not moving as fast toward newer ways of getting TV content, such as IPTV and Netflix, as other parts of the Canada, according to newly released figures. Survey results released last week from Media Technology Monitor (MTM), a project of CBC/Radio-Canada, showed the national IPTV adoption rate among anglophones was 19 per cent, though only 12 per cent among anglos in Ontario. It was 17 per cent in Alberta, 37 per cent in Atlantic Canada, 23 per cent in British Columbia, and 33 per cent in Manitoba and Saskatchewan combined. Among anglophones in Montreal — the only anglophones measured in Quebec — there was an 18 per cent adoption rate for IPTV. MTM data showed that 42 per cent of Canadian anglophones, overall, subscribe to Netflix Inc., compared to 38 per cent in Ontario. In Alberta and Atlantic Canada, it was 49 per cent, 44 per cent in British Columbia, and 40 per cent in Manitoba and Saskatchewan combined. It said 33 per cent of anglophones in Montreal subscribe to Netflix. The results were based on phone surveys taken by Forum Research Inc. of more than 6,000 anglophones last spring and fall. Results based on the whole sample have a margin of error 1.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, MTM said. Experts say Rogers Communication Inc.'s position of being able to offer cable-based TV, Internet and phone service along with mobile service in Ontario in a bundle is part of the reason for the lower adoption rate of IPTV, which is dominated by BCE Inc.'s Fibe TV in Ontario. Peter Miller, an independent broadcast consultant and lawyer, said in a phone interview that Telus Corp. has been more successful in using its IPTV service Optik TV to cut into the cable-TV market of Shaw Communications Inc. in the West, compared to what Bell has done against Rogers in Ontario. He said Telus has mobile services, while Shaw Communications Inc. doesn’t, and Telus “is prepared to compete with Shaw on price and packages. … prepared to undercut Shaw." Miller said that while Bell and Rogers "compete with each other on the price that they offer on bundles and they offer discounts ... they are not as aggressive as Telus can be with Shaw. “In Ontario, Rogers, the cable guy, does have mobile services, so while Rogers in Ontario can bundle with telephone and therefore keep its customers, Shaw out west has lost customers because it has less to bundle with,” Miller said. “It’s the difference between a quad play and a triple play. Rogers can offer quad play, so you’ve got home phone, cable, Internet and mobile. Shaw can only offer a triple play; they don’t have mobile, and that’s a major factor.” Gerry Wall, president of Wall Communications Inc., said in a phone interview that in the competitive battle between Rogers and Bell, the former has been able to offer TV with its packages longer than Bell has. “It’s simply a problem of five years ago you didn’t have IPTV in Ontario," he said. "When you look at who is in the market, it was the cable guys first for television. … Rogers has a head start … they have a better Internet services. “Even if Bell tries to get fibre pushed out to a neighbourhood, you still have limitations at least in some jurisdictions. Not so much in urban areas, but the further out you get, the harder it is.” Gregory Taylor, an assistant professor of mass communications at the University of Calgary, said in a phone interview that part of the reason why IPTV adoption in Alberta, Atlantic Canada, Manitoba and Saskatchewan is higher is because IPTV technology was in place in those areas earlier than in Ontario. “What you’ve got are areas of the country where has a longer footprint, it’s been part of how people receive their television for longer,” Taylor said. He added that cable TV is more prominent in Ontario with technological infrastructure that was installed years earlier than in other regions. Miller indicated that the less-than-average subscription rate for Netflix in Ontario could be because there are more over-the-air (OTA) channels in Ontario that people can access for free. “In Toronto, for example, you’re going to have more over-the-air channels than you would have in B.C. Most markets have, of course, CBC, Global and CTV. Not all markets have CTV 2. … Many markets won’t have an equivalence of CHCH and some other religious channels,” Miller said. Taylor agreed that OTA "is more accessible in southern Ontario than it is in other places," and that even if 10 per cent of the population in Ontario is accessing channels over the air, that could contribute to the less less-than-average Netflix subscription rate. — With reporting by Shruti Shekar at sshekar@thewirereport.ca and editing by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca

IPTV, Netflix adoption lower in Ontario: MTM

News | November 9, 2015

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IPTV, Netflix adoption lower in Ontario: MTM

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