Canadians turn to online video from Pay TV

It appears our cousins north of the border are even more hooked into online video than we are, and increasingly are looking to cutting the cord to cable as more of their preferred TV programs become available over the Internet.

A study by Ipsos Reid shows that Canadians are on the Internet more than 18 hours a week and are watching television just 16.9 hours. Both numbers are up from a year ago, when time spent online clocked in at 14.9 hours, and TV time averaged 15.8 hours.

Industry vets say the rise in time spent online is rising at the same time cable and satellite TV subscriptions are climbing, leading them to believe more people are simply switching to online video viewing.

"If you're not a big television watcher, can you justify paying $30 a month, $50 a month, $80 a month for television when you watch one show a night, one show a week?" said Mark Laver, associate vice-president of Ipsos Reid. "The reality is that show might be available online. There are people who are going to say, `I don't need cable.'"

For more:
- see this Canadian Press article

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