Two In Three (64%) Canadians Want The Federal Goverment To Intervene In Recent CRTC Approval Of Satellite Radio Stations

Ottawa, ONTARIO - Two in three (64%) Canadian adults say the federal government should intervene in a CRTC decision to approve new satellite radio stations, two of which will feature more than 90% American content, according to a poll released today sponsored by Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. Only 34% say the federal government should do nothing and allow the decision to stand.

In addition, 68% of Canadians say that the less than 10% Canadian content offered by the satellite radio stations is "too little." Compared with a quarter (25%) who indicate that less than 10% of Canadian content on the new stations is "about right," and 5% who say it is "too much."

At present, government regulations require that Canadian artists account for at least 35% of broadcast Canadian radio content. Half (52%) of Canadians say 35% Canadian content in radio broadcasts is "about right," compared with 37% who think this amount is "too little" and 9% who say it is "too much."

Over four in five (84%, including 50% who "strongly agree") Canadians agree that it is becoming "more important to strengthen Canadian culture and identity as economic ties with the United States increase." This compares to 14% of Canadians who disagree with this proposition.

Further, over four in five (85%) say that it is important that Canadian radio should include Canadian content and programming (including 53% who say it is "very important"). Fifteen percent indicate that it is not very (9%) or not at all important (6%) that Canadian radio include Canadian content.

Finally, two in three (65%) say there should be a specified minimum amount of Canadian programming on the radio, while 34% disagree.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Friends of Canadian Broadcasting poll conducted from August 30 to September 1, 2005. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1,002 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Mike Colledge
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid
613.241.5802
[email protected]

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