How American and Canadian Media Usage Differs
Think Canadian media usage mirrors that of Americans? Think Again! According to a 2009 study done by Ipsos Reid, youth (18-34) in the two countries differ in media behaviors and lifestyle decisions. For example, though young people in both countries like sports and the internet, Americans like football, MySpace, and text messaging, while Canadians prefer hockey, Facebook, and playing the lottery.
According to the study, American and Canadian youth both have an affinity for the internet and television. Relatively little separates average hours spent on the internet per week (US-28; CAN-27) and average hours watching television per day (US-5.7; CAN-4.7). However, Americans send twice as many text messages per week as do Canadians and while both enjoy social networking, Americans favor myspace (54%) while Canadians favor facebook (81%).
Unsurprisingly, American and Canadian youth differ on their favorite sport. Football was the most watched sport for Americans with 57% of respondents claiming to have watched a game in the past year. In Canada, hockey was the most watched sport, capturing 58% of respondents. Interestingly, the NFL was the second most watched sport with 32% having watched a game in the past year.
For more information on how Canadian and American youth differ, see the full Ipsos Reid study.