Almost Half of Canadians Would Give up TV Before Phone or Internet: Survey

A new survey conducted on the Angus Reid Forum and commissioned by Primus Canada, reveales that almost half (46 per cent) of Canadian respondents would give up watching television before they would give up surfing the Internet or using their phone.

Recent reports show that Canadians are some of the world's heaviest Internet users. In the last quarter of 2010, Canadians were on the web an average of 43.5 hours per month. That is 8 hours more than our closest competitors – the Americans, then the British at 32.3 hours. The global average is 21 hours per month, according to a recent ComScore report. 

Another one-third of respondents (35 per cent) would rather give up their phone in order to continue their online and television access, while only 20 per cent would give up their Internet access. Of those polled, Western Canadians were more likely to give up TV over Internet access or their phone, with 61 per cent of British Columbians and 58 per cent of Albertans, respectively, stating these facts.

“This survey proves that Canadians have reached a comfort level and reliance on the Internet that is at least on par with that of TV and phones,” says Rob Warden, Vice President, Residential Services at Primus Canada. “With the increased interactivity offered by both online and mobile phone access, the ability to connect, be entertained and more is easier than ever.”

The Primus survey also revealed that 35 per cent of those aged 55 years and older would rather give up television than the Internet or their phones, suggesting that the acceptance and use of digital technology is steadily rising among seniors. As well, a majority – 67 per cent – of the 18 to 34 year-olds surveyed would give up television as opposed to the Internet or phone (perhaps not surprising since many in this segment have only known a world that includes online access, computers and digital technology).

Primus Canada, the largest alternative full service provider of unlimited Internet, home phone, wireless and long distance services, commissioned the survey to gauge the level of attachment that Canadians had to the Internet.

Additional findings from the survey include:

When asked if they would rather receive one million dollars and never use the internet again or prefer to keep the Internet, one-fifth of Canadians would turn down one million dollars in order to keep their Internet access

Females were more willing to give up television in order to keep the Internet or their phone than were males with 50 and 41 percent, respectively, reporting this fact.

The majority (52 per cent) of Canadians earning over $100,000 per year would forego television before giving up their phone or Internet access in comparison to only 12 per cent who would give up the Internet to keep watching television or using their phone.

The higher the level of education, the more likely the respondents were to choose to give up television, with 54 per cent of post-university respondents admitting to this, in comparison to only 13 per cent of the same group who would rather give up Internet access

About the Survey:  From May 23rd, to May 24th, 2011, an online survey was conducted among a randomly selected, representative sample of 1,009 Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panel members. Individuals were sampled according to Census data to be representative of the Canadian national adult population. The full dataset has been statistically weighted according to the most current gender, age, region, education (and in Quebec, language) Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. The margin of error is ±3.1%, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.