Analog and digital specialty stations charted strong growth in adult audience numbers during this past television season, according to BBM research.
Overall, the 25-54 audience for English-language analog specialty stations was 7% higher for the period between Sept. 1, 2008 and May 17, 2009 compared to the same period the year before. Digital specialty channels, meanwhile, enjoyed a 12% boost.
CTV-owned TSN topped the list of English analog specialty stations, followed by Canwest’s History channel. Four other Canwest properties featured in the top 10, with HGTV coming in at No. 6 and Showcase, Food Network and TVtropolis ranking eighth, ninth and 10th respectively.
CTV’s Discovery Channel (No. 3) and Space (No. 4), along with Rogers Sportsnet (No. 5) and Corus Entertainment’s W Network (No. 7) also made the top 10.
On the digital side, Canwest stations claimed the top five spots and eight of the top 10. The company’s Showcase Action, National Geographic, Showcase Diva, Mystery and MovieTime properties were ranked first to fifth, respectively, while IFC (No. 8), Deja View (No. 9) and BBC Canada (No. 10) rounded out the top 10.
Sandwiched between the Canwest stations were the sixth-ranked Teletoon Retro and seventh-ranked Scream, both owned by Corus.
While Canwest dominated the top 10 in both the analog and digital English-language categories, CTV’s suite of 14 analog stations and 18 digital channels led the way in terms of aggregate average minute audience across all English and French specialty services.
An average of 566,000 viewers were tuned in to one of CTV’s 32 specialty stations during the average minute—more than 276,000 of those from the 25-54 demographic.
Canwest was second in aggregate average minute audience with almost 397,000 viewers, including 213,000 25-54-year-olds.
The BBM numbers show a growing preference among Canadian viewers for niche-directed content, said Muriel Solomon, vice-president of marketing strategy, specialty channels for Canwest.
“Specialty as a whole has done a great job delivering on people’s specific interests,” she said. “There’s been a growing interest in food and home decor and home renovation, so people love spending time with those channels that deliver exactly the content they’re looking for.”
The results highlight the increasingly critical role of specialty services within the television industry, said Rick Brace, president, revenue, business planning and sports for CTV Inc.
“Although it has been impacted like everything else by the recession, it certainly hasn’t been hit nearly as hard as conventional television,” said Brace.
Solomon was also pleased with Canwest’s performance. The 25-54 year-old audience for the company’s English specialty stations jumped by 14% on the analog side and 22% on the digital side, significantly outpacing the industry growth rate in both categories.
She credited the quality of Canwest content and the company’s promotion of that content for the strong showing. Specifically, she pointed to Canwest’s strategy of staggering program launch dates and promotions to maximize exposure for individual shows and stations.
