More and more Canadians are discovering that they no longer need need traditional TV: 16 percent of Canada’s adult population streams all their TV from online sources, according to a recent comScore survey. An additional 35 percent watch both traditional TV and online video, according to the survey, and an additional 35 percent only watch traditional TV, reports the Canadian Press.
There are a few things worth pointing out about this kind of data: First of all, the survey was commissioned by Google (s GOOG), which owns one of the biggest online video platforms with YouTube. The survey has Canadians watching 2.9 billion YouTube videos a month, which equals an average of 127 videos per user and five videos per visit.
But the data is also notable in light of the rigid bandwidth caps in place in Canada: Some of the biggest Canadian ISPs restrict their users to as little as 20 GB per month on some plans, with overages of up to $4 per additional GB, which has forced companies like Netflix (s NFLX) to lower their default video quality for Canadian viewers.
Critics have long argued that ISPs use these pricing schemes to restrict online competition and keep viewers glued to their own TV offerings. comScore’s numbers seem to suggest that these efforts have clearly failed.
Image courtesy of Flickr user futureatlas.com.
