“83% of Canadians Oppose Basic Cable Status for 5 New Channels and Show Preference for ‘Pick and Pay¿ Option” — Rogers Survey

More than 8 in 10 Canadians surveyed oppose mandatory inclusion of five proposed new channels in their digital basic cable service while showing strong support for the option to pick and pay for channels they watch. The channels are currently seeking licences from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

When given programming descriptions and costs per month for each of the proposed channels, Canadians strongly rejected their addition to digital basic cable in favour of being made optional. The results were:

* Metis Michif Television, programming to and about Metis people (15 cents per month). ¿make optional¿ 92%

* Canada One TV, programming about multicultural themes and values (50 cents per month). ¿make optional¿ 86%

* Canal Savoir, French language programming about multicultural themes and values (2 cents per month). ¿make optional¿ 82%

* The Accessible Channel, programming for the visibly impaired (20 cents per month). ¿make optional¿ 80%

* All Points Bulletin, information and public service announcements related to law enforcement (6 cents per month). ¿make optional¿ 71%

Seventy-nine percent (79%) of respondents agreed that, ¿a basic cable subscription should only include a very limited group of channels with broad appeal. All other channels should be available to consumers who want them and are prepared to pay for them.¿

¿Canadians want to have the choice to pick and pay for the channels they watch. That¿s what digital service should provide,¿ said Phil Lind, vice-chairman of Rogers Communications Inc. ¿There is very limited support for having these five channels added to digital basic service, however we have no objection to their availability as optional services.¿

The national 1,000 respondent study of adult cable and satellite subscribers was conducted in English and French for Rogers Cable by the Strategic Counsel between March 18-22, 2024. It was done on a proportionate-to-provincial-population basis. Seventy percent (70%) of respondents were cable subscribers and 30% were satellite subscribers. The margin of error for a sample of 1,000 respondents is plus or minus 3.1%, nineteen times out of the twenty.