Netflix Canada: Movie And TV Download Service Reaches 1 In 10 Canadians

First Posted: 03/20/2012 12:23 pm Updated: 05/20/2012 5:12 am


Ten per cent of Canadians now use the video streaming service Netflix and those subscribers watch far more TV than average, a new survey suggests.


"Netflix viewers watch 28 per cent more TV than the average Canadian when including their Netflix viewing," said Mark Allen, director of research and strategic analysis at CBC/Radio-Canada, which ran the survey of 8,000 Canadians in the fall, a year after Netflix launched in Canada.


The findings came out of the Media Technology Monitor telephone survey of 4,000 anglophones and 4,000 francophones between October and December. The results are considered accurate within plus or minus 1.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.


Netflix, which launched in Canada in September 2010, streams movies and TV episodes over the internet to people's TVs via compatible devices such as video game consoles. The proportion of Canadians with access to Netflix has increased significantly from six per cent last spring.


The survey suggests Netflix subscribers spent an average of 5.6 hours watching Netflix per week.


Even though the service allows people to stream TV episodes and movies to other devices, such as tablets, subscribers did 74 per cent of their viewing on a TV. They spent 18 per cent of their time watching Netflix on a computer, just three per cent on their tablets and only two per cent on a smartphone.


While some analysts had predicted the rise of Netflix would take a big bite out of regular TV services — a phenomenon nicknamed "cord-cutting" — the survey results suggested the impact on cable and satellite has been small so far.


Netflix subscribers watched only slightly less regular TV than average – 13 hours per week, compared with 15.8 hours for non-Netflix subscribers.


Netflix subscribers were also only slightly less likely to subscribe to regular satellite and cable services (83 per cent) than non-Netflix subscribers (88 per cent).


Netflix charges $7.99 per month for a subscription.


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Ten per cent of Canadians now use the video streaming service Netflix and those subscribers watch far more TV than average, a new survey suggests. "Netflix viewers watch 28 pe...
Ten per cent of Canadians now use the video streaming service Netflix and those subscribers watch far more TV than average, a new survey suggests. "Netflix viewers watch 28 pe...
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02:35 PM on 03/21/2012
I'd watcha helluva lot more Netflix if those boneheads would come out with an app for Blackberry Playbook. You'd almost think they made a deal with Apple.
10:06 AM on 03/21/2012
netflix watchers spend more time viewing tv because half that time is spent waiting for the video to load.
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10:29 AM on 03/21/2012
The front-end load is more than offset by not having to suffer thru ads.
11:38 AM on 03/21/2012
So true, now if only the Canadian Netflix didn't suck so, so hard. Why do we NEVER get new content??
11:05 PM on 03/20/2012
I find that surprising. I got the free trial and found that Netflix, while it says it has a lot, the selection of movies and shows is pretty lacking. Plus, the fact that you cannot delete your history is annoying.
06:51 PM on 03/20/2012
I'm a "cord cutter" and glad I did it. TV has gotten disgustingly worse for the last years and the cable bill just got higher and higher. $100 a month and nothing to watch. I just can't afford it anymore. I would like to choose the few channels I want and pay no more than $40 but that won't happen despite what the CRTC ruled. Tired of having paid for the cable box every month for 20 years. I couldn't go cold turkey so I got Netflix and have found some good stuff to watch. Dump cable and go for Netflix instead.
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Blodo
Time to build a better world
06:00 PM on 03/20/2012
The Canadian selection is ridiculously skimpy. There were a couple of trilogies I wanted to watch where they only had the two of the three movies. What would that be, a diilogy?
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FearlessFreep
A radical leftist with a JS Woodsworth avatar.
03:36 PM on 03/21/2012
The selection for American users is three times as big.
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cameron d
Good Guys Win
03:49 PM on 03/20/2012
I have Netflix (c'mon, it's $8) but I really wish we had better options. When I'm done with Twin Peaks I'll have nothing else worth watching in the TV category that I haven't already seen.
06:52 PM on 03/20/2012
Time to watch Red Dwarf then. :D And then they have the six-part Jekyll which is excellent.
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Scoville Scale
Canadian Contrarian
01:34 PM on 03/20/2012
With that many subscribers, you'd think they'd offer a larger collection of movies...
03:18 PM on 03/20/2012
Blame the Canadian media regulation police. Netflix Canada is hamstrung by ridiculous Canadian content laws.