Statistics on TV Viewing Habits (1994-2000)

1999

Canadian Television Viewing

The Culture Statistics Program compiled and analyzed data from the BBM Bureau of Measurement, surveying a sample of Canadians over a period of four weeks in 1997.

Canadians watched television for an average of 22.7 hours per week in the fall of 1997. Of those hours, 1.3 hours was spent viewing videotapes on VCRs.
Between 1988 and 1997, Canadian television viewing experienced a small but steady decline.
Residents of Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia watched more television than other Canadians. The average weekly viewing time was more than 25 hours in Quebec and about 24 hours in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
The average weekly viewing times in Ontario, PEI and the Western provinces were between 19.8 and 22.2 hours a week.
French-speaking Quebecers watched more TV than their English-speaking counterparts and the rest of Canada. Women watched about five more hours of television per week than men.
Men and women over 60 spent nearly 10 more hours than the national average watching TV. Men between 18 and 24 spent the least time watching TV, followed by teens and children.
Francophone viewers spent more than 66 per cent of their time watching Canadian programming. Anglophone viewers spent 70 per cent of their viewing time watching foreign programs.
For both Anglophones and Francophones, the most popular type of Canadian programming was a news and public affairs program. For Anglophones, the most popular type of programming, Canadian and foreign, was drama, followed by news and comedy. Canadian or foreign news and public affairs was the biggest draw for Francophones.
Francophone viewers shower a higher interest than Anglophones in variety shows and game shows.
Anglophones were more interested in sports programs than Francophones.
Canadians in general watched more TV (25 hours per week) in the winter months than in the summer months (20 hours).
Higher-income households ($75,000 dollars or more) watch on average 15.8 hours of television per week, compared to 28.1 hours in households with incomes below $30,000.

Source: The Culture Statistics Program Television Project, by the CRTC, Canadian Heritage and Statistics Canada, 1998, and CBC Research (Nielson Media Research), February 1999.

Kids watch less TV (U.S.)

A drop in the number of children watching television has the $800 million children's advertising industry worried. Research conducted by children's network Nickelodeon and by TN Media shows that more children aged between two and 11 are turning off the tube, often in favour of Internet use or video games.

TV viewership among children (measured as persons using television, or PUTs) was down 13 per cent in the fourth quarter of 1998, compared to the same period in 1997.
In 1996, the average child watched 20.5 hours a week of television. In 1998, that average was down to 19.49 hours.
While overall T.V. viewership among children is down, cable viewing has grown. In 1996, children watched an average of 3.98 hours of cable; in 1998, that average jumped to 4.55 hours.
According to Statistics Canada, Canadian kids watch, on average, 16.8 hours of television a week.

Source: Variety magazine, Jan.3, 1999.

1998

Girls and TV (Canada)

According to Teenage Research Unlimited, girls aged 12 to 19 spent $60 billion (U.S.) in 1997 and are deemed to be an attractive market demographic.
Girls also accounted for 30 to 40 per cent of Titanic's $580 million (U.S.) total U.S. box office receipts.
According to Saatchi & Saatchi data, Nickelodeon is home to all of the top ten rated shows for girls aged two to five. The top three shows for girls aged six to 11 are all Disney shows aired on ABC while Nickelodeon airs the rest of the shows in the top ten. Nickelodeon has the largest share of the viewing audience for all girls aged two to 11.
SmartGirl Internette polled 197 between (ages 8 to 12) and teen girls and found that 65 per cent watch more than two hours of TV a day. Their favorite was Dawson's Creek with Friends in second, 7th Heaven in third, The Simpsons in fourth and Buffy the Vampire Slayer in fifth. Shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch rank among girls' favorites but most girls are watching programs aimed at boys as well as girls.
The most watched network for girls aged 11 to 19 is MTV with a 27 per cent share of the viewing audience.

Source: Saatchi & Saatchi, SmartGirl Internette and Teenage Research Unlimited, cited in KidScreen, August, 1998.

Prime-Time TV Viewing Patterns (Canada)

Four and a half million Canadians (15 per cent) don't watch TV at all during prime time (7 - 11 p.m.). Despite the emphasis on prime time, only 40 per cent of viewing hours occur during it.
For some groups - notably children - prime time is in the morning. Some daytime slots, especially in the afternoon, draw at least 50 per cent of prime time audiences.
News, information, cartoons, sitcoms and soap operas are watched more often outside of prime time. Movies, by contrast, have a larger audience in the evenings. (These patterns apply to English and French TV.)
Canadians watch more TV in the winter, and less in the summer months.

Source: CBC Research Pages: All Time is Prime Time, 1998

Canadians Watching TV (Canada)

More than a third of Canadian households own at least three television sets.
Seventy-five per cent use cable and 20 per cent have antennas. So far, only 5 per cent have gone over to satellite dishes.
Only a small percentage (six per cent) of households watch Pay-per-View programming. But if the head of the household is under 25, this percentage more than doubles. The preferred genre is Action/Adventure programs.

Source: ACNielsen Home PC and Entertainment Study, March 1998

TV Viewing Time for Children (U.S.)

Children average 2.5 hours of TV viewing per day, compared to an average of one hour a day for homework.
Preschoolers watch an average of 2.6 hours a day, elementary school children average about 2.4 hours of TV viewing daily, and teenagers watch about 2.63 hours per day.

Source: "Television in the Home 1998: 3rd Annual National Survey of Parents and Children," Annenberg Public Policy Center, June 22, 1998

British Children's Viewing Habits

Although British TV has a "watershed" hour of nine p.m. for material not considered suitable for children, almost all children over 11 watch after that hour. Sixty per cent of those over five watch after nine p.m. during the week, and 80 per cent do on the weekends.
Almost 83 per cent of 13- and 14-year-olds (and 60 per cent of all children) have TVs in their bedrooms. Sixty-two per cent watch TV before school every day.

Source: Annual survey by ChildWise Monitor, a youth survey group. Reported in The Ottawa Citizen, April 13, 1998

1997

Canadian TV Ownership (Canada)

Nearly all Canadian homes (99 per cent) have at least one TV set, and nearly two thirds (59 per cent) own more than one.
On average, Canadians watch more than 22 hours of television a week.
Canadian children between the ages of 2 and 11 watch approximately 18 hours a week.
Three out of four Canadians (76 per cent) subscribe to cable.
A similar percentage (78 per cent) own a VCR.

Source: Compiled from Statistics Canada and Bureau of Measurement (BBM) figures by the Centre for Youth and Media Studies, University of Montreal, 1997

Canadian Television Viewing (Canada)

The Culture Statistics Program compiled and analyzed data from the BBM Bureau of Measurement, surveying a sample of Canadians over a period of four weeks in 1997.

Canadians watched television for an average of 22.7 hours per week in the fall of 1997. Of those hours, 1.3 hours was spent viewing videotapes on VCRs.
Between 1988 and 1997, Canadian television viewing experienced a small but steady decline.
Residents of Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia watched more television than other Canadians. The average weekly viewing time was more than 25 hours in Quebec and about 24 hours in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
The average weekly viewing times in Ontario, PEI and the Western provinces were between 19.8 and 22.2 hours a week.
French-speaking Quebecers watched more TV than both their English-speaking counterparts and the rest of Canada.
Women watched about five more hours per week of television than men.
Older people spent more time in front of the tube as well. Men and women over 60 spent nearly ten more hours than the national average watching TV.
Men between 18 and 24 spent the least time watching TV, followed by teens and children. Teens (12-17) averaged 16.9 hours a week and children (2-11) averaged 17.9 hours per week.
Francophone viewers spent more than 66 per cent of their time watching Canadian programs. Anglophone viewers spent 70 per cent of their viewing time watching foreign programs.
For both Anglophones and Francophones, the most popular type of Canadian programming was news and public affairs programs. For Anglophones, the most popular type of programming, Canadian or foreign, was drama. This was followed by news and comedy. Canadian or foreign news and public affairs was the biggest draw for Francophones.
Francophone viewers showed a higher interest than Anglophones in variety shows, game shows and dramas.
Anglophones were more interested in sports programs than Francophone.

Source: The Culture Statistics Program Television Project by the CRTC, Canadian Heritage and Statistics Canada, 1998.

1996

Canadian TV-watching Figures (Canada)

Canadians spent less time in front of the TV in the fall of 1996 than they did the previous year. Quebecers watched the most, with 26 hours a week; Nova Scotians and New Brunswickers came second and third, with 24.5 and 24.2 hours respectively; and Albertans watched the least - only 20.3 hours a week.
Overall, Canadian programs accounted for 39 per cent of the national viewing time. However, while English-speaking viewers watched domestically produced fare only 30 per cent of the time, francophone viewers spent close to 70 per cent of their viewing time watching domestically produced material.

Source: The Ottawa Citizen, Feb. 6, 1998; Statistics Canada

1995

Canadian Viewing Habits (Canada)

Canadians watched an average 22.7 hours of television per week in 1994, a drop of about 30 minutes from 1990 and 90 minutes over the past decade. Children aged 2 to 11 averaged 17.7 hours of viewing in 1994, down about 90.5 minutes from 1990. The heaviest viewers, those over 60, watched just over 5 hours daily.
Quebecers lead the country for time spent in front of the TV, watching an average of 3.5 hours each day; British Columbians and Albertans watched the least - 18 minutes less than the national average.
Canada-wide, young men aged 18-24 watched the least TV, averaging 2.1 hours a day.

Source: Report on Canadian TV Viewing Habits for 1994, Statistics Canada, Aug. 23, 1995

U.S. Family Viewing Habits

Four of five (78 per cent) adults in the United States consider watching TV with their children to be a family activity.
More than a quarter (26 per cent) watch television every night during dinner.
Nineteen per cent say they could not survive without television.
Forty-seven per cent of households have a TV in a child's room.

Source: The USSB Telescoop Survey, November 1995. Conducted by United States Satellite Broadcasting (USSB)

U.S. Children's Viewing Habits

According to survey results, 58 per cent of children watch at least two hours of television a day.
Of the children surveyed, 66 per cent live in a household with three or more television sets.
Over half (54 per cent) have a television set in their own room.
About 55 per cent usually watch television alone or with friends, but not with their family.
Approximately 44 per cent watch different shows when alone than when they're with their parents.

Source: Sending Signals: Kids Speak Out About Values in the Media, 1995. A Children Now Poll, conducted by Fairbank, Maslin Maullin & Associates (USA)

Television Use and Literacy

Those most likely to watch TV for significant periods of time generally have a lower literacy level. Over 10 per cent of those at the lowest level of literacy watch more than five hours a day; over 20 per cent of those at the highest level watch less than an hour a day.

Source: International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), a collaboration between seven governments and three intergovernmental organizations, Dec. 1995

Canadian Viewing by Age and Sex (Canada)

Total population

Children 2-11 years

Adolescents 12-17 years

Men 18 years and older

Women 18 years and over

Hours per week

Canada

22.7

17.7

17.1

21.5

26.8

Newfoundland

24.1

23.8

18.9

21.8

27.8

Prince Edward Island

22.3

19.8

16.6

22.5

24.5

Nova Scotia

24.1

19.9

19.9

22.5

27.9

New Brunswick

23.7

18.3

15.5

22.6

28.2

Quebec

Total¹

25.7

19.9

18.8

24.0

30.8

English²

22.8

17.1

17.3

22.3

25.8

French²

26.3

20.1

19.0

24.3

31.8

Ontario

21.8

17.0

16.8

20.6

25.7

Manitoba

22.1

17.3

15.8

21.4

25.9

Saskatchewan

21.9

17.2

17.1

21.4

25.5

Alberta

20.5

16.8

17.6

19.3

23.9

British Columbia

20.6

15.2

13.9

20.3

24.2

Includes respondents who did not indicate a language spoken at home or who indicated a language other than English or French.
Language spoken at home.