Despite navigating the turbulent currents of streaming wars and shifting habits, Canada's media landscape in 2022 revealed a resilient core where traditional television, commanding 72.3% of viewing hours, coexisted with a digital surge that captured nearly two-thirds of all advertising spend.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, Canadian English-language conventional television stations accounted for 72.3% of total viewing hours among specialty and conventional TV services
- The average Canadian watched 20.6 hours of television per week in 2022, down 4% from 2021, primarily due to streaming shifts
- CTV Network held a 13.2% share of prime-time viewing among English-language audiences in Fall 2022
- In 2022, Canada's English radio stations broadcast over 1.2 million hours of local content weekly across AM/FM
- Average tuning to radio among Canadians 2+ was 17.2 hours per week in Fall 2022
- Toronto's top FM station, CHUM 104.5, reached 1.8 million listeners weekly in 2022
- In 2022, daily newspaper circulation in Canada totaled 15.2 million copies across print and digital
- The Globe and Mail had 350,000 digital subscribers by end of 2022
- National paid daily newspapers numbered 80 in 2022, down 5% from 2021
- In 2022, digital news consumption in Canada averaged 45 minutes daily per user
- 88% of Canadians accessed online news/media monthly in 2022
- YouTube held 42% share of online video consumption in Canada Q4 2022
- Total media ad spend in Canada was $19.8 billion in 2022, with digital at 63%
- TV advertising revenue totaled $4.2 billion in 2022, down 2% YoY
- Out-of-home (OOH) ad spend grew 15% to $850 million in 2022 post-COVID
Traditional TV viewing is declining as digital media consumption grows across Canada.
Advertising and Revenue
- Total media ad spend in Canada was $19.8 billion in 2022, with digital at 63%
- TV advertising revenue totaled $4.2 billion in 2022, down 2% YoY
- Out-of-home (OOH) ad spend grew 15% to $850 million in 2022 post-COVID
- Newspapers ad revenue: $1.9 billion, 55% from digital classifieds in 2022
- Radio ads generated $1.6 billion, with 20% from digital audio in 2022
- Online display/video ads: $6.7 billion, 35% growth in 2022
- Magazine ad pages revenue: $650 million in 2022
- Cinema advertising spend: $120 million, up 25% in 2022
- Search and social ads dominated 52% of digital spend at $9.8 billion in 2022
- Traditional media ad share fell to 37% of total $19.8B in 2022
- Programmatic buying: 60% of digital display ads valued at $3.5B in 2022
- Retailer media networks grew 28% to $1.4 billion in 2022
- Connected TV (CTV) ad revenue: $450 million, up 40% in 2022
- Direct mail ad spend: $950 million stable in 2022
- Gaming and esports ads: $280 million emerging in 2022
- Pharma sector ad spend: $1.2 billion mostly digital 65% in 2022
- Influencer marketing valued at $350 million within digital ads 2022
- Auto sector led TV ads with 12% share at $500 million in 2022
- OTT/Streaming ad revenue: $1.1 billion, doubling from 2021 in 2022
- Local radio ads: 70% of total radio revenue $1.1B in 2022
- E-commerce ads surged 32% to $2.8 billion digital in 2022
- Financial services ad spend: $1.5 billion, 70% digital in 2022
- Podcast advertising: $150 million, up 25% in 2022
- Telecoms invested $2.1 billion in media ads mostly TV/digital 2022
- DOOH digital out-of-home: $200 million, 24% growth in 2022
Advertising and Revenue Interpretation
Canada's media landscape is now a digital colossus casually sipping a $19.8 billion latte while traditional media, nursing a steady decline in its corner booth, still manages to throw a few billion-dollar parties of its own.
Digital Media
- In 2022, digital news consumption in Canada averaged 45 minutes daily per user
- 88% of Canadians accessed online news/media monthly in 2022
- YouTube held 42% share of online video consumption in Canada Q4 2022
- Digital ad spend reached $12.5 billion, 65% of total media ads in 2022
- Netflix had 16.7 million Canadian subscribers by end of 2022
- Social media video views totaled 150 billion monthly in Canada 2022
- Online news sites reached 28 million unique monthly visitors in 2022
- TikTok users in Canada: 12.5 million monthly active in 2022
- Programmatic digital ads accounted for 55% of display spending in 2022
- Facebook daily active users in Canada: 22 million in 2022
- Podcast listeners numbered 11 million weekly in Canada 2022
- Mobile video consumption: 70% of total digital video time in 2022
- Crave streaming service had 3.2 million subs in 2022
- Search ads generated $4.1 billion in revenue for digital media in 2022
- Instagram monthly users: 18.4 million in Canada 2022
- Over-the-top (OTT) video revenue: $5.8 billion in 2022
- 75% of Canadians used ad blockers on digital media sites in 2022
- Spotify monthly active users in Canada: 9.8 million in 2022
- Video ad spend grew 18% to $3.2 billion in digital media 2022
- Disney+ launched with 2.5 million Canadian subs within first year to 2022
- Daily digital media time: 4.2 hours per Canadian adult in 2022
- Native digital ads: 25% of total digital spend in 2022
- LinkedIn monthly users: 14 million in Canada 2022
- User-generated content platforms had 60% engagement share in 2022
- Amazon Prime Video subs: 4.1 million in Canada 2022
- Retail media networks ad spend: $1.2 billion digital in 2022
Digital Media Interpretation
While Canadians spend a quarter of their digital lives fending off ads they never asked to see, the very same attention they guard so jealously is being meticulously auctioned for billions in a market where we are both the product and, begrudgingly, the primary audience.
Print Media
- In 2022, daily newspaper circulation in Canada totaled 15.2 million copies across print and digital
- The Globe and Mail had 350,000 digital subscribers by end of 2022
- National paid daily newspapers numbered 80 in 2022, down 5% from 2021
- Toronto Star print circulation was 1.2 million weekly in 2022
- Magazine publishing revenue fell 6% to $1.1 billion in 2021
- 42% of Canadians read a print newspaper daily in 2022
- Community newspapers distributed 18 million copies weekly in 2022
- Maclean's magazine had 1.5 million monthly digital readers in 2022
- Advertising revenue for dailies was $1.8 billion in 2022, 60% digital
- Vancouver Sun circulation reached 180,000 daily combined print/digital in 2022
- French-language newspapers like La Presse had 250,000 digital subs in 2022
- Magazine titles active in Canada: 1,800 in 2022
- National Post digital audience grew 12% to 4.2 million monthly uniques in 2022
- Print ad pages in consumer magazines declined 4% to 45,000 in 2022
- 65% of newspaper readers are over 55 years old in 2022
- Ottawa Citizen weekly reach was 450,000 in 2022
- Consumer magazine circulation totaled 120 million annually in 2022
- Digital replica editions accounted for 30% of newspaper circulation in 2022
- Chatelaine magazine monthly print run: 300,000 in 2022
- 28% of Canadians subscribed to a paid newspaper in 2022, up 3% YoY
- Weeklies numbered 900 with 12 million weekly readership in 2022
- Toronto Life magazine had 1.1 million readers per issue in 2022
- Newspaper employment stood at 25,000 full-time in 2022
- Trade magazine revenue: $450 million in 2022
- Calgary Herald digital subs grew to 85,000 in 2022
- Print readership penetration: 52% of adults monthly in 2022
Print Media Interpretation
While digital subscriptions and reach are climbing impressively, the print newspaper's obituary remains stubbornly unwritten, as a dedicated, if graying, army of Canadians still clutch their daily papers, proving that in a fragmented media landscape, old habits—and community weeklies—die hard.
Radio Broadcasting
- In 2022, Canada's English radio stations broadcast over 1.2 million hours of local content weekly across AM/FM
- Average tuning to radio among Canadians 2+ was 17.2 hours per week in Fall 2022
- Toronto's top FM station, CHUM 104.5, reached 1.8 million listeners weekly in 2022
- News/talk radio formats captured 22% of listening share in major markets in 2022
- French-language radio advertising revenue totaled $285 million in 2021
- CBC Radio One English reached 8.5 million listeners weekly in 2022
- Adults 25-54 tuned to radio 12.5 hours/week on average in 2022
- Montreal's top station CJMF 94.5 had a 14.2% share in Fall 2022
- Canadian content on commercial radio stations met 85% of airplay requirements in 2022
- Satellite radio subscribers grew to 2.4 million in Canada by 2022
- Morning shows on radio averaged 15% higher listenership than drivetime in 2022
- Vancouver's CKNW news/talk reached 450,000 weekly listeners in 2022
- Ethnic radio stations broadcast 250,000 hours of programming in 2022
- Radio ad revenue declined 3% to $1.7 billion industry-wide in 2022
- Women 25-54 represented 48% of radio cume audience in 2022
- Online streaming of radio stations reached 15 million monthly unique users in 2022
- Calgary's top country station CFCW had 12.1% share in A12+ in 2022
- Public radio funding from government was $120 million for CBC Radio in 2022
- Music intensity on commercial radio averaged 65% of airtime in 2022
- Ottawa's CHEZ 106.1 rock station grew 8% in audience to 320,000 weekly
- Radio listening via smart speakers increased 25% YoY to 2.1 hours/week in 2022
- French radio stations in Quebec had 92% local content compliance in 2022
- National radio reach was 91% of Canadians 2+ weekly in Fall 2022
- Adult contemporary format held 18% national share in 2022
- Indigenous radio networks broadcast 45,000 hours annually in 2022
- Winnipeg's QX104 reached 280,000 weekly listeners in 2022
Radio Broadcasting Interpretation
While traditional radio stubbornly insists it's still the life of the party, the real story is in the numbers: its heart beats loudest in morning shows and local content, but its pulse is weakening as ad revenue bleeds and listeners increasingly tune in through smart speakers and streams.
Television Broadcasting
- In 2022, Canadian English-language conventional television stations accounted for 72.3% of total viewing hours among specialty and conventional TV services
- The average Canadian watched 20.6 hours of television per week in 2022, down 4% from 2021, primarily due to streaming shifts
- CTV Network held a 13.2% share of prime-time viewing among English-language audiences in Fall 2022
- In 2021, Canadian pay and specialty TV services generated $3.2 billion in advertising and subscription revenue
- CBC/Radio-Canada's English TV services reached 85% of Canadians weekly in 2022
- French-language specialty TV services saw a 2.1% audience growth in 2022, reaching 14.7 million viewers
- Over-the-air (OTA) TV penetration stood at 78.4% of households in 2022
- Prime-time news programs on Canadian TV averaged 1.2 million viewers nightly in 2022
- Independent TV stations contributed 15% of local programming hours in 2022
- Sports programming on specialty TV channels captured 22% of total specialty viewing share in 2022
- In Q4 2022, Global TV led drama series viewing with 1.8 million average viewers per episode
- Canadian content (CanCon) made up 58.7% of prime-time hours on private English TV stations in 2022
- TV households with smart TVs reached 62% in Canada by end of 2022
- Local TV news viewership declined 8% YoY to 4.1 million weekly viewers in 2022
- TVA Network dominated French prime-time with 28.4% share in Fall 2022
- Children's programming on TV reached 92% of kids aged 2-11 monthly in 2022
- Subscription TV revenue fell 1.5% to $2.8 billion in 2022 amid cord-cutting
- Citytv's audience share grew 5% to 7.2% in key demos 25-54 in 2022
- 4K TV adoption hit 25% of households by 2022, boosting specialty sports viewership
- News specialty channels like CP24 averaged 1.5% national share in 2022
- French OTA TV stations broadcast 12,450 hours of local programming in 2022
- Binge-viewing accounted for 35% of TV consumption in Canada in 2022
- Omni TV ethnic channels reached 8 million viewers monthly in 2022
- TV advertising spend on conventional stations was $1.1 billion in 2022
- Adults 2+ spent 14.3 hours/week on English TV in 2022
- Knowledge Network public TV reached 70% of BC households weekly in 2022
- Drama genre held 28% of prime-time CanCon hours on English TV in 2022
- Cable TV penetration dropped to 55% of households in 2022
- TSN sports network averaged 400,000 viewers per NHL game in 2022 season
- Indigenous programming hours on TV increased 12% to 1,200 hours in 2022
Television Broadcasting Interpretation
Canadian TV is stubbornly holding its ground like a polite moose in a streaming blizzard, as evidenced by conventional stations still commanding over 72% of viewing hours, yet it's simultaneously morphing, with smart TVs in 62% of homes and binge-watching accounting for 35% of consumption, all while sports specialties capture 22% of viewing, local news faces an 8% decline, and CanCon dutifully fills 58.7% of prime time.
Sources & References
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