TV in a pandemic
Discover the results of a new study exploring Canadian’s TV viewing attitudes and behaviours.
Our TV viewing habits have changed substantially over the course of this pandemic – massive increases in news consumption, substantial growth in daytime and evening, shifts in top programming – but TV habit changes go beyond time spent, so thinkTV and Ipsos partnered early May to ask Canadians about their latest perceptions around television, advertising and buying behaviour.
Key Highlights from the research:
- Trust in TV news: 44% of Canadians say they are spending more time watching news on television, 19% of Canadians trust TV news moresince the coronavirus pandemic, and far more Canadians cite TV as their primary news source compared to any other media.
- Top reasons for watching TV: News isn’t the only content keeping Canadians glued to their TV’s, in fact the Top 2 reasons for watching television right now are Entertainment (67%) and Relaxation (57%).
- Open to new brands: Nearly one third of Canadians say they have already tried a new brand, product or service in the last 4 weeks, and 33% said they are more likely do so when life goes “back to normal.”
- TV most effective driver of trial: Not only is TV is the most trusted source of video advertising, respondents indicated that TV ads are the most effective way to get them to buy a new brand.
