CCTA IMPRESSED WITH AUDIENCE NUMBERS FOR NEW CHANNELS
By Adnews Staff
The Canadian Cable Television Association released audience share numbers yesterday for the new specialty channels. According to Neilsen Media Research of Markham, Ont., the number of cable households watching the new stations has increased from 11.6% to 14.7%. The new channels were launched last October and were available for free until last weekend. They include: Teletoon, Space: The Imagination Station, The Comedy Network, The Family Channel, History Television and The Superstation TBS. Neilsen reach numbers (the percentage of cable subscribers who tune into a station at least once a week, if only for a minute to see what's on) show that one-third of cable subscribers tuned into The Comedy Network, while 30% visited Teletoon and 31% checked out The Family Channel. Twenty-nine per cent clicked to Space: The Imagination Station and 25% turned to History Television. Forty per cent checked out TBS. The cable companies are now doing a direct mail and telemarketing blitz to encourage consumers to sign up for the new channels. This is the second phase of the campaign to promote the channels. The final one will consist of technicians going to the homes that have not subscribed to the new stations to put in a trap to block the channels. The technicians will encourage consumers to sign up for the channels. Although, the trial period for the new channels discontinued last weekend, it will take some time before the cable companies will be able to trap out the households who don't want to receive the channels.