CANADIANS NOT INTERESTED IN NEW DIGITAL CHANNELS
By Adnews Staff
A national survey from Decima Research suggests that only 10% of Canadians would consider buying any of the Category 1 digital channels arriving this fall. The poll, conducted in January and April, surveyed 2,000 Canadian adults about the upcoming launch of the 21 new channels. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission gave licences to 16 English-language and five French-language Category 1 channels late last year, and cable and satellite companies are obligated to carry them all. Only one licence is granted per genre for Category 1 channels. According to Decima, the poll also confirmed predictions that despite their mandatory carriage, many of the new channels will not survive. The three most popular English-language channels were identified as Rogers Communications' Biography channel, Shaw Communications' Documentary channel and the New Technology channel co-owned by Rogers and Saw.