TV Viewing Trends in Canada (NLogic)

We create our hot topic audience report at the end of every TV season so that our clients have quick and easy access to the TV viewing trends in Canada.

The seasonality of TV viewing plays a critical role in programming and media planning and buying. In particular, fall remains a key period for the TV industry, as this is when many new and returning shows start. How well the shows perform during this time period determines whether they’ll return in the spring.

Viewing figures for 2020 were obviously impacted extensively by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of the initial lockdown period (Spring 2020) viewing to news stations grew significantly and by contrast viewing to sports stations fell with the lack of live content. Since that time, viewing patterns have somewhat followed previous years with a dip in the summer, and increases again between Fall and Spring.

As the country began to ease out of the third wave, TV viewing during Spring 2021, while not as high as last year, did hold at a similar level to Fall 2020.

Our report covers:

1. Average time spent watching TV by season.
2. Share of viewing trends by station groups (ie conventional vs specialty TV).
3. Top performing TV stations including AMA (000s) and share of viewing.
4. Top performing TV programs including ratings and percentage of live viewing.

Clients with a TV PPM subscription can access this report either through the Lens platform or from the homepage of InfoSys+TV PPM.

Highlights for the Spring 2021 TV season include:

• French Canadians 2+ are watching 8 more hours per week compared to the rest of Canada
• Average hours viewed per week for Ind2+ across Total Canada remained constant vs Fall 2020.
• Ind2+ share of viewing to conventional stations across Total Canada is the highest it’s been in the past year (37.2% vs 35.6% in Fall 2020)
• TSN & Sportsnet claim the top 2 spots for specialty stations for both Ind2+ and A25-54 across Total Canada whereas CP24 is top in Toronto & LCN is the top in Montreal.
• The Good Doctor appears as the number one show for all Ind2+ in Total Canada yet The Masked Singer takes the top spot for A25-54.
• In Quebec Franco District 31 is number one for all Ind2+ and Les beaux malaises 2.0 is number one for A25-54.

This report is created using ConexAPI. This tool accesses Numeris TV PPM data directly and feeds it seamlessly into data visualization tools, such as Excel or Microsoft PowerBI. This allows you to spend far less time creating reports and more time finding the insights you need and acting on them.

Written by Jo Loup, Account Executive & Content Marketing Specialist, NLogic

Looking for the latest news on TV and radio audience data? Jo is an expert in translating audience data into insightful reports and dashboards helping marketers make sense of it all. With over 15 years of experience working with broadcasters and agencies big and small, Jo understands the landscape. From top programs and audience-based share of voice, to deep dive’s in some of TVs biggest live events like the Super Bowl, to shifts and trends in media technology ownership and use, watch for Jo’s latest reports.