Most content pirates have TV subscriptions: MTM

More than half, or 59 per cent, of Canadians who pirate TV and movie content also have a TV subscription, according to a new report from Media Technology Monitor (MTM). “This likely indicates that pirating content has to do with getting particular content that may not be readily available through the existing subscriptions,” Thursday’s report outlined. “This may be content exclusive to other services or stations not included in the users’ subscription.” Nearly as many, or 58 per cent, subscribe to over-the-top (OTT) services, the CBC/Radio-Canada agency said. Only seven per cent of pirates, or one per cent of the Canadian population, don’t have any TV or streaming subscriptions and get all of their content through piracy. MTM previously reported that one-in-eight Canadians said they had watched pirated content in the previous month. A government-commissioned study found 26 per cent of those who consume content online reported having consumed “at least one illegal file” over the previous three months. The MTM report released Thursday also found that men are more likely to pirate content, at 15 per cent, compared to 10 per cent of women. Residents of Manitoba and Saskatchewan were the most likely to access infringing content, at 19 per cent. Meanwhile, lower-income Canadians were less likely to engage in piracy than their higher-income counterparts, which MTM noted “could indicate that pirating content is not necessarily just about cost of content, but that ownership of technologies that allow piracy also plays a role.” It also said one-in-seven Canadians have Kodi boxes at home, while a fifth of those have modified the software to allow them to access additional media content. MTM said this represents three per cent of Canadian households. Sandvine Corp. said in a report earlier this year that 71 per cent of Canadian households have the software configured to access unlicensed content. MTM’s report was based on a phone survey conducted this spring by Forum Research and Ad hoc Recherche with 4,163 respondents, representing all regions of the country. The margin of error was accurate within plus or minus 1.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Most content pirates have TV subscriptions: MTM

Brief | November 15, 2018

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Most content pirates have TV subscriptions: MTM

Brief | November 15, 2018

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