While Canadians remain generally satisfied with television, they are less willing to pay more for it, according to a new study by Canadian Media Research.

Only 11% of those surveyed by the Ottawa firm strongly agreed that they would be willing to pay $5 more per month for better quality TV — significant given the current fight over fee-for-carriage since cable and satellite companies have repeatedly said that consumers would have to absorb any additional costs.

Fewer Canadians feel they’re getting good value for their money as it is. Only 5.7% of respondents strongly agreed that ‘TV is generally good value for the money it costs,’ down from 8.1% last year, and considerably lower than the 11.8% who strongly agreed with the same statement in 2003.

‘I think the rising cost of TV, which includes not only subscription fees but also the cost of HD sets, PVRs and other new video technology, is pushing against the consumer’s general satisfaction with television,’ said Barry Kiefl, president of Canadian Media Research. ‘While people maintain their very high levels of satisfaction with TV, consumers are starting to show signs that they are not willing to pay much more for further improvements.’

The study, conducted in October and November, found that the average Canadian now has access to 173 channels on his or her main TV set (which is eight years old) and 114 channels on a secondary set.

Canadians spend an average of 18.8 hours per week watching TV, compared with 12.7 hours listening to the radio and 10.9 hours using the Internet.

Further, respondents ranked CBC Television as the leading source for news, with 28.1% saying it offers the best national news, followed by CTV with 19% and Global Television at 13.8%. The public broadcaster is also the most trusted news source at 24.5% (up from 22.4% last year), followed by CTV at 21.8%.

From Media in Canada