OTTAWA – A new study of cable/satellite TV subscribers commissioned by Canwest and CTV released today says that while a large majority of Canadians value local news programs more than any other Canadian programming and services, few know that their cable and satellite fees don’t go to directly support their TV stations.
In the survey, conducted by Nanos Research, 77% assigned “a high or very high value to having access to local television news,” reads the release. “The intensity of very high value assigned to local TV news was at least twice that of Canadian drama, specialty stations or high-definition TV.”
Reflecting the importance they place on local news, 68% of subscribers assumed that part of their basic monthly cable/satellite TV bill goes to pay for it – when in fact local stations do not get any money directly from cable or satellite distributors, reads the release.
“People truly believe that when they pay their monthly cable/satellite TV bill it supports local TV news and local programming. In fact only a little over one of every ten people (12%) knew that no part of the cable/satellite TV bill goes to local TV stations," said Nik Nanos, president of Nanos Research.
"It’s quite ironic that the thing they value most – local TV news, is something they think they are directly financially supporting but in fact they are not. The research demonstrates that there is an opportunity for Canadians to better understand their cable/satellite TV bill and what they are directly financially supporting,” added Nanos.
Between December 15th and 22nd, 2007 a total of 1,024 random telephone interviews were conducted by Nanos Research among English speaking cable/satellite subscribers across Canada. The survey is accurate +/-3.1%, 19 times out of 20.
