Poor awareness about over-the-air digital TV leading to its decline

Canadian over-the-air TV has declined since last year's switch to digital broadcasting in part because too many Canadians don’t know they can receive over-the-air, digital signals, experts say. “I am surprised that there aren’t more people taking advantage of over-the-air HD,” Gregory Taylor, a broadcasting expert and post-doctoral fellow at Ryerson University, said in an interview. Taylor said Canada’s transition to digital broadcasting, which occurred on Aug. 31, 2011, was “poorly advertised” and executed, and that many people don’t realize over-the-air digital signals, including many aired in high-definition, are an option. Digital television sets or digital converters connected to analog TVs can pick up clear, digital TV pictures. A survey released by the Media Technology Monitor (MTM) last week said over-the-air TV penetration reached an “all-time low” following last year's switch to digital, with five per cent of Canadians now reporting that they receive over-the-air digital signals. MTM's research is a product of CBC/Radio-Canada with BBM Analytics as a marketing partner. The report said that “tuned out” Canadians, or those “who chose to live without TV,” account for seven per cent of the Canadian population. The number is up from four per cent at the beginning of 2011, the survey said. Taylor said there is a contrast between Canada’s switch and that of the U.S., where some areas saw a resurgence in the use over-the-air broadcasting by smaller broadcasters. “It’s never been that way in Canada, where the emphasis remains upon the distribution models of cable and satellite and now, increasingly, Internet protocol television ,” he said. Ian Morrison, a spokesman for watchdog group The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, noted in an interview that Canada’s transition was “awful” compared to the United States. He said that the American government played a more active role in warning viewers of the change while the Canadian government’s efforts were limited. “We’re now seeing the result,” Morrison said. “There’s probably a real deficit of communication.” The MTM report said the “tuned out” Canadians are “younger, highly educated and are less interested in sports and entertainment.” It noted they spend 25 per cent more time on the Internet than the average TV viewer. Mark Allen, director of research and strategic analysis at CBC/Radio-Canada, which has more than 600 transmitters across the country serving over-the-air viewers, wrote in an emailed statement to The Wire Report that the future of TV is online. “TV operators know this well and are porting their subscription TV services to multiple screens,” Allen wrote. Allen said online video is a practical option for light TV viewers. Barry Kiefl, president of Canadian Media Research Inc. (CMRI), said in an interview that the firm's annual media trend survey released in January found that about 9.5 per cent of anglophones in Canada don’t subscribe to a cable, satellite or internet-protocol TV service. He said he believes that almost all of that 9.5 per cent receive over-the-air TV, a result that “seems to be at odds with the MTM report.” Kiefl said a “small number,” just 1.5 per cent of all respondents, said they have their TVs connected to the Internet. This includes connection boxes like Apple TV, Kiefl said. For its media trend survey, CMRI surveyed 900 anglophone Canadians nationally by post in November and December 2011. Kiefl said he believes “a lot” of people are unaware that digital signals are available over the air even for analog television sets. He said many Canadians have older television sets in their homes strictly for over-the-air content in addition to another set connected to a cable, satellite, or IPTV television service. “A large proportion of people actually have at least one set,” he said. “If it’s an older set, it has been caught in this digital transition,” Kiefl said, pointing out that consumers can buy digital converters to connect older TVs. He said CMRI was surprised that more people did not report a lack of service following the digital switch last year. “There has to be a lot of people out there who had a signal on a set and don’t get it any longer,” Kiefl said. “Maybe it’s an older set and they think that it’s broken or something.” Taylor pointed to a 2009 study carried out by the Strategic Counsel entitled, “DTV Working Group Report: Issues Raised By Going Digital,” which asked Canadians what they would do if they couldn’t get over-the-air TV service in 2011. “Given that these channels will no longer be available, what do you intend to do when the TV signals and channels that you currently receive are no longer available?” the survey asked. “The number one answer was that they will do nothing and just live without TV,” Taylor said. “The fact that this new study has come out and said this is what happened hasn’t snuck up on anyone.” Last summer, the CBC said it would install 27 digital transmitters by the transition deadline, but only 25 of those would cover off obligations to transition to digital in mandatory markets. The public broadcaster failed to make the transition for 22 transmitters in mandatory markets and received a one-year extension from the CRTC to switch those transmitters to digital by Aug. 31, 2012. As a result, Taylor said, Canada’s 2011 digital switch was incomplete. “Most areas of Canada are still under an analog reception ... Cities and major towns have gone digital, but not all,” he said. Taylor said a decline in over-the-air viewing may also be resulting from the idea that there is “very little” incentive for Canadian broadcasters to emphasize their over-the-air signals. He said few broadcasters are airing content in both standard and high definition. Pressure should be put on broadcasters to fully use the spectrum they have been given, he said. If they don't make good use of it, they should return it to Industry Canada, Taylor said. “I would think this would provide real incentive to get the over-the-air sector useful and vibrant again,” he said. “They do not want to give up that spectrum.” dgrenier@thewirereport.ca

Poor awareness about over-the-air digital TV leading to its decline

News | 03/01/2012 9:47 pm EST

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