Canwest Continues to Dominate Specialty
With record audience growth in Fall period, Canwest channels make up 5 of the top 10 specialty analog and 8 of the top 10 specialty digital channels
TORONTO, February 4, 2009 – Following explosive growth among its analog and digital specialty channels throughout Fall 2008, Canwest Broadcasting concluded the season with five of Canada’s top 10 analog specialty channels, including History Television rising to second place. On the digital front, eight of the top 10 digital channels, including Showcase Action securing top spot, are Canwest properties. This announcement follows the release of final Fall ratings data by BBM NMR.
With viewers flocking to Canwest specialty throughout the season, the company lead the industry in specialty growth with a consolidated audience increase of 18%, outpacing the industry growth rate of 8%*. In addition, Canwest owned almost 40% of the share of total English specialty viewing and the highest share (41%) of the coveted Women 25-54 demo**.
"Canwest’s success this Fall is a direct reflection of the standard-setting content available across our well-known and much-loved brands. The record growth over the season shows that viewers across the country come to our specialty channels for quality entertainment from Canada and around the world," says Barb Williams, Executive Vice President, Content, Canwest Broadcasting.
Final Fall 2008 Rankers for Adults 25-54***
Top 10 Analog Specialty:
1 TSN
2 History Television (Canwest)
3 Discovery
4 Sportsnet
5 W Network
6 Showcase (Canwest)
7 HGTV (Canwest)
8 Space
9 TVtropolis (Canwest)
10 Food Network (Canwest)
Top 10 Digital Specialty
1 Showcase Action (Canwest)
2 National Geographic Channel (Canwest)
3 Showcase Diva (Canwest)
4 Mystery TV (Canwest)
5 Teletoon Retro
6 MovieTime (Canwest)
7 IFC (Canwest)
8 BBC CANADA (Canwest)
9 Scream
10 Deja View (Canwest)
Key highlights of the Fall 2008 season include****:
- History Television’s A25-54 AMA grew 58% over Fall 2007 to become the number two Canadian analog specialty service, bumping out Discovery. History also grew 66% to become the third most watched specialty channel among W25-54.
- The A25-54 AMA across Showcase, HGTV and Food Network showed significant growth with increases of 30%, 12% and 10% respectively.
- Showcase Action grew a record 77% to claim the number one digital specialty station for A25-54. With a solid 10.5 AMA for Fall 2008, Showcase Action rivals channels just outside the top 20 analog level for A25-54.
- Showcase Diva’s AMA more than doubled across all demographics in Fall 2008 placing it at number three for A25-54, number two for W25-54 and number one for W18-49. (AMA increased 148% for A25-54, 127% for W25-25 and 136% for W18-49).
- Mystery TV, Showcase Diva, National Geographic Channel and Showcase Action, in that order, made up the top four digital specialty channels for W25-54.
- Four of Canwest’s specialty channels sat in the top 10 Canadian analog specialty channels among A18-49 for Fall 2008 including History Television, TVtropolis, Showcase and HGTV.
- Four of Canwest’s channels sat in the top five Canadian digital specialty channels among A18-49 for Fall 2008 including Showcase Action, National Geographic Channel, Showcase Diva, and Mystery TV.
** Source: BBM-NMR meter data, M-Su 6a-6a, 8/27/07-12/30/07; 9/1/08 – 12/28/08
****Source: BBM-NMR meter data Monday-Sunday, 6a-6a, 08/27/07-01/07/08 and 09/01/08-01/04/09
****Source: BBM-NMR meter data Monday-Sunday, 6a-6a, 08/27/07-01/07/08 and 09/01/08-01/04/09