2023 Insights - Full Year

Canada television and streaming market share analysis 2023: Netflix, CBS, HBO, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video. Presented below is the section for Canada from The Global Television Demand Report. Enjoy!

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Canada genre and subgenre preferences

• Canada had the second largest share of demand for the comedy genre in this report (tied with the US). 41.7% of demand for shows in 2023 was for a comedy series in this market.
• The talk show genre has struggled to capture the attention of Canadian audiences. Only 2.6% of demand for series was for a talk show, which is a smaller share of demand for the genre than in any other market in this report.
• Game shows are popular in Canada where they account for 5.3% of demand for all series. This is well above the global share of demand for game shows (3.5%).

• Sitcoms stood out as a successful subgenre in Canada in 2023. 9.7% of demand for all series was for a sitcom, which is a larger share of demand for this subgenre than in any other market in this report.
• Conversely, the soap opera subgenre was not broadly successful in Canada. Only 0.8% of demand for series was for a soap opera, the second lowest share of demand for this subgenre in this report.
• The competition subgenre has strong demand in Canada. 4.3% of demand for shows was for a competition series, which is greater than the 3.0% of titles that these shows make up.

Canada originals share of demand and demand distribution

• Netflix originals accounted for a 7.7% share of demand in Canada in 2023, larger than any other channel or platform. This is strong year on year growth, up from a 7.0% share of demand in 2022.
• Original content from the Canadian public broadcaster, CBC, accounted for 2.6% of demand for all series in Canada in 2023.
• HBO lost ground to competition in Canada this year. HBO series accounted for 5.2% of demand for shows in 2023 compared to 5.9% a year ago. NBC overtook HBO as the channel with the third largest demand share this year.

• Letterkenny, a comedy from Crave about life in rural Canada, ranked as the seventh most in-demand show in Canada in 2023 with 22.4 times the average series demand. Its twelfth and final season premiered in December.
• The Curse of Oak Island, a reality series about hunting for treasure in Nova Scotia, released its eleventh season in November. The show had 14.9 times the average series demand in Canada in 2023.
• The long running Murdoch Mysteries is a local drama from CBC. It had 14.5 times the average series demand in Canada in 2023.

Top series in Canada

Here are the top 20 most in-demand series in 2022 in Canada across all platforms:

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2022 Insights - Full Year

Canada television and streaming market share analysis 2022: Netflix, CBS, HBO, NBC, and ABC. Presented below is the section for Canada from The Global Television Demand Report. Enjoy!

Please subscribe to DEMAND360^LITE to access the latest version of The Global Television Demand Report and to discover the latest content analytics and trends for TV series on cable, broadcast, OTT and SVOD streaming platforms around the world.

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Canada genre and subgenre preferences

• Canada was the second most comedy-loving market in this report. Its 15.6% share of demand for the comedy genre was behind only the UK in 2022.
• Canada had the lowest share of demand for the variety genre in this report. Only 3.5% of demand across shows was for a variety series.
• A third of demand for shows in Canada in 2022 was for drama series. While this was the largest genre in the market in terms of its demand share, this was the second smallest demand share for drama across markets in this report, larger than only the US.

• Canada was one of five markets in this report where crime drama was the most in-demand subgenre of 2022. The others were Australia, the UK, Italy, and Spain.
• Canadians’ love of comedy is apparent when looking at the top subgenres for the year. Sitcom ranked as the second and comedy drama ranked as the sixth most in-demand subgenres. Animated sitcom was the tenth most in-demand subgenre for the year, its highest rank in this report.
• Canada was one of four markets where sci-fi drama reached its highest rank for the year as the fourth most in-demand subgenre.

Canada originals share of demand and demand distribution

• Although it had the largest share of originals demand in Canada, Netflix’s 7.0% share was smaller than any other market in this report.
• Original content from the Canadian public broadcaster, CBC, accounted for 2.7% of demand for all series in Canada in 2022, the same share of demand as The CW series in this market.
• In Canada, CBS and HBO were tied in 2022. Shows from each brand accounted for a 5.9% share of demand in this market.

• Saturday Night Live was the second most in-demand show in comedy-loving Canada for the year, with 27.75 times the demand of the average series. The sketch comedy show ranked higher in Canada than any other market in this report.
• PAW Patrol, was the most in-demand local production in Canada for the year. This kids show is not only popular in its home market, it has been hugely successful in countries around the world as well.
• The long running Murdoch Mysteries is a local drama from CBC. It had 10.95 times the average series demand in Canada in 2022.

Top series in Canada

Here are the top 20 most in-demand series in 2022 in Canada across all platforms:

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2022 Insights - Q1

The state of streaming and TV in Canada Q1 2022: Netflix, CBS, NBC, HBO, and ABC. Wondering who is winning in the streaming wars in Canada in Q1, 2022? Presented below is the section for Canada from The Global Demand Report. Enjoy!

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Canada Genre and Subgenre Preferences for Series

• Canada gave the second largest share of demand to the comedy genre this quarter. The 16% share of demand for the genre was higher than the genre’s global share of demand (14.3%).
• Reality series were very popular with Canadian audiences in Q1 2022 who gave the genre a 13.6% share of demand.
• Canada had a 1.1% share of demand for sports content this quarter. It was slightly higher than the global share of demand (1%).

• Canada was one of three markets (along with France and the US) in this report where animated sitcom ranked in the top ten subgenres in this quarter.
• Crime drama ranked as the most in-demand subgenre in Canada in this quarter. It edged out sitcom by 4% demand in Q1 2022.
• Competition reality was the only reality subgenre that ranked in the top ten in Canada this quarter, just making the cut in tenth place.

Canada Originals Share of Demand and Demand Distribution

• Content from HBO achieved its third largest demand share in Canada this quarter. The 5.9% share of demand from Canada was above its global share of demand (5.2%).
• Despite making up the largest share of demand in Canada in this quarter, the demand share given by Canadian audiences (6.8%) to Netflix content was significantly lower than the global share of demand (10.4%).
• Canada was one of three markets (along with Portugal and the US) where content from FOX was most successful this quarter. In all three markets FOX reached its largest share of demand (3.6%) in this report.

• Saturday Night Live, the comedy from NBC, was the most in-demand show in Canada in with 32.69 times the average series demand in Q1 2022.
• The Book of Boba Fett, from Disney+, was the most in-demand action/adventure series in Canada in Q1 2022 with 26.09 times the average series demand.
• Star Trek: Picard seems to have a special place in the hearts of Canadian audiences. The action/adventure from Paramount+ ranked higher in Canada than in any other market covered in this report.

Top Series in Canada

Here are the top 20 most in-demand series in Q1 2022 across all platforms and networks in Canada:

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2021 Insights - Full Year

The leading SVOD platforms in Canada 2021: Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+ and more. Presented below is the section for Canada from The Global Television Demand Report. Enjoy!

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Canada digital original genre and subgenre preferences

• Both Canada and Brazil had a 3.1% share of demand for digital original horror content in 2021, the largest share of demand for the genre in this report. However, while Brazil’s share shrank from last year, Canada’s grew from a 2.8% share in 2020.
• Canada is the most comedy-loving market in this report. 18% of demand for digital originals was for a comedy. This is an increase from the genre’s 17.4% share of demand last year and the first year that Canada has a greater share of demand for comedy than America.
• While the documentary genre has seen its share of demand grow in most markets in this report, in Canada it has fallen from 5.3% in 2020 to 4.7% in 2021.

• The popularity of sitcoms in particular helped make Canada the most comedy-loving market in this report. Sitcom was the third most in-demand subgenre in Canada this year-its highest rank in this report.
• As the 7th most in-demand subgenre this year, animated comedy also ranks higher in Canada than in any other market in this report. This shows that Canadians’ love of comedy spans both animation and live action.
• While lighter comedy subgenres have succeeded in Canada, the opposite is true for more serious crime dramas. As the 6th most in-demand subgenre for the year, crime drama ranked lower in Canada than in any other market in this report.

Canada platform demand share and digital originals demand distribution

• Netflix captured 40.0% of Canadian demand for digital originals in 2021. This is Netflix’s second smallest share of demand in this report.
• With a 6.3%, Paramount+ achieved its highest demand share for digital originals in Canada of all markets in this report. This is up slightly from its 6.0% demand share in 2020 when the platform was still branded CBS All Access.
• HBO Max more than doubled its demand share in Canada in 2021 compared to 2020. Its 6.8% share of demand for original series was up from 3.3% in 2020.

• The most in-demand digital original series in Canada in 2021 is The Mandalorian. For the year it had 23.44 times the demand of the average series. It was also the top series last year in Canada, but its demand has fallen slightly this year from 27.6x in 2020.
• The Hulu original Letterkenny achieved its highest rank in Canada of all markets in this report with 13.6 times the demand of the average show. The local setting and themes of the show have resonated with Canadians.
• Sci-fi series across multiple franchises rank higher in Canada than other markets in this report (The Mandalorian, Star Trek: Discovery, and The Expanse) and seem to point to a pattern of high demand for space-themed content in this market.

Canada platform demand share for drama and action/adventure digital originals

• Canada had the largest share of demand for Paramount+ original dramas in this report, which accounted for a 5.5% share of demand for all original dramas in 2021.
• Canada was the market in this report where Netflix had the second smallest share of demand for digital original dramas (46.7%).
• HBO Max original dramas found fans in Canada. Original series from HBO Max made up 4.2% of demand for all digital original dramas in 2021, a larger share for the platform than in any other market in this report.

• In this report, Paramount+ reached its largest share of demand for originals in the action/adventure genre in Canada where it had a 5.9% share of demand in 2021. This is nearly twice the platform’s global share of demand in the genre (3.0%).
• Disney+ more than doubled its share of demand for action/adventure originals in Canada this year. In 2020 its originals accounted for 19.3% of demand in the genre but that has increased to 39% this year.
• HBO Max was able to grow its demand share this year despite aggressive growth from Disney+. In 2020 its originals made up 12.9% of demand in the action/adventure genre. This year it has increased to 16.3%.

Top digital original series in Canada

Here are the top 20 most in-demand streaming original series in 2021 across all platforms:

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2021 Insights - Q1

Parrot Analytics Genre Trend reports reveal which genres and subgenres appealed to a market's audiences the most during the quarter.

The key questions investigated in this report include:

1. Which genres are most in-demand for Canadian audiences this quarter?

2. How do genre trends in Canada compare to global trends for the quarter?

3. Which subgenres are most in-demand for Canadian audiences this quarter?

4. For only digital original series, what genres are most demanded by Canadian audiences this quarter and how is this different to the overall shares?

For all titles, which genres are Canadian audiences demanding most?

• In Canada, drama content still holds by far the largest share of demand of all genres. With American medical drama Grey’s Anatomy leading the charge, 34.0% of all Canadian demand this quarter is for a drama series.

• Globally, comedy is the second largest genre in this quarter. Canada is no exception to this with 16.3% of Canadian demand for series being for a comedy title.

• The reality genre takes a strong third, accounting for 14.2% of all demand expressed in Canada between January and March 2021.

How do Genre Demand Shares in Canada compare to global trends?

• In Canada, reality television series have a much higher share of audience attention than the global average. Worldwide, the reality genre accounts for 10.4% of expressed demand. The Canadian figure of 14.2% represents an increase in share of +3.8%. Canada’s most in-demand reality series this quarter is RuPaul’s Drag Race.

• The increase in attention for reality comes at the expense of drama, which has a -7.1% demand share in Canada compared to the global average.

• The comedy, children and documentary genres also benefit from increased audience attention in this market.

For all titles, which subgenres are Canadian audiences demanding most?

• Canadian audience enthusiasm for crime dramas and sitcoms is almost equal, with both subgenres accounting for 8.3% of demand. Crime drama is slightly larger, with AMC’s Better Call Saul the quarter’s most demanded series in this subgenre.

• Crime drama is one of only three drama subgenres in the top ten. This is fewer than the global average for the genre, in line with the smaller Canadian demand share for drama.

• Canadian audiences are fond of animated sitcoms. The animation subgenre is not in the global top ten for this quarter but is 8th largest here. Comedy Central’s South Park is the most demanded of these series.

For digital original titles, which genres are Canadian audiences demanding most?

• In the digital original market, streaming platform original series are not fully supplying the high Canadian demand for reality. The genre’s digital original demand share is 3.7%, -10.5% less than the overall market. Canada’s most in-demand digital original reality series this quarter is Netflix’s Nailed It.

• Conversely, the streaming originals are meeting the Canadian demand for comedy series. The genre’s demand share here is +1.9% on the overall market, exceeding even the overall Canadian market increase over the global average.

• The most important genres to streaming platforms in Canada are the action/adventure and drama genres, which overindex against the full market by +9.8% and +5.2% respectively.

This report is intended as a high-level overview of genre trends in this market. To access more granular genre demand trends for specific platforms, types of titles, timeframes and more, please contact your Parrot Analytics representative.

2020 Insights - Full Year

Canada streaming market share analysis 2020: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Paramount+ (CBS All Access), Disney+ and more. Presented below is the section for Canada from The Global Television Demand Report. Enjoy!

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Canada digital original genre and subgenre preferences

• Canadian audiences expressed their largest share of demand for drama digital originals in 2020 with 42.2% demand share. This is the second lowest share of demand for drama across markets.
• The documentary and children’s genres saw the greatest growth in Canada in 2020, gaining +2.0% and +2.2% demand share respectively from 2019.
• In particular, Canada has the second highest demand share for both the comedy and reality genres of markets in this report (17.4% and 3.6% respectively). These are trending in opposite directions with comedy’s share of demand declining and reality’s demand share increasing from 2019.

• As with most markets in this report, sci-fi drama is the most in-demand subgenre in Canada for 2020.
• As Canadian audiences interest in the comedy genre declined, both comedy drama and sitcom fell one spot in the subgenre rankings while crime drama and thriller increased their rank in 2020.
• Canada is one of three markets in this report, along with Australia and Mexico, where the superhero series subgenre is the second most in-demand subgenres for the year.

Canada platform demand share and digital originals demand distribution

• Netflix captured 48.9% of Canadian demand for digital originals in 2020. Canada is one of three markets in this report (along with Australia and Spain) where Netflix’s demand share has dipped below 50% for the year.
• With 6.0%, CBS All Access achieved its highest demand share for digital originals in Canada of all markets in this report. It also saw the largest growth in its demand share in Canada from 2019.
• Hulu had its second largest demand share in Canada for these markets in 2020. While down slightly from last year, it is nearly the same as the 10% demand share it had in 2018. This shows Hulu has had surprising stability in Canada despite multiple new competitors.

• The most in-demand digital original series in Canada in 2020 is The Mandalorian. For the year it had 27.6 times the demand of the average series.
• The Hulu original Letterkenny achieved its highest rank in Canada of all markets in this report with 13.1 times the demand of the average show.
• With 15.5 times the demand of the average show, Netflix’s The Witcher was the second most in-demand digital original in Canada. Along with Australia, Canada is the market where this show ranked highest for the year.

Canada platform demand share for drama & action/adventure digital originals

• CBS All Access captured 6.9% of demand in Canada for drama digital originals in 2020. This is its best result in markets in this report. However, this is a decrease from last year when CBS All Access accounted for 7.6% of demand for drama originals.
• Hulu has held its demand share for drama originals relatively constant over time. It accounted for 11.2% of demand for drama originals in 2019 and 11.0% this year.
• Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have seen the largest declines in their drama demand share in Canada down from 57.9% and 15.4% respectively in 2019.

• 28.6% of demand expressed for an action/adventure original in Canada was for a Netflix original. Netflix’s share in Canada is lower than in most markets.
• CBS All Access’s share of demand for action/adventure originals was the second highest in Canada of markets in this report. Star Trek: Picard was the 5th most in-demand digital original in Canada for the year.
• Last year, DC Universe’s content accounted for largest share of demand for action/adventure originals in Canada. Although HBO Max took over those shows, a lack of new premieres and increasing competitive pressure mean that HBO Max only had the fourth largest share of demand for action/adventure originals.

Top digital original series in Canada

Here are the top 20 most in-demand streaming original series in 2020 across all platforms:

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2020 Insights - Q1

This Parrot Analytics SVOD platform trend report for Canada reveals which which SVOD’s digital original series appealed most to Canadian audiences between February and April 2020. The key questions investigated in this report include:

1. Are Canadian audiences demanding more linear or more digital content?
2. Which SVOD’s original series are demanded most by Canadian audiences and how is this demand evolving?
3. In the Action and Adventure genre, which SVOD’s original series are demanded most by Canadian audiences and how is this demand evolving?

A selection of findings from this report are provided below:

• The demand share of digital originals in Canada is lower than the global average of 16.6%. This indicates the global SVOD platforms are facing strong competition from Canadian networks.
• The demand share of Disney+ original series is higher in Canada than it is globally. This may be due to Canada being one of the initial launch markets for the platform.
• Science fiction action and adventure originals had high demand in these three months, benefitting the platforms offering series of this type.

Parrot Analytics SVOD platform trend reports reveal which SVOD’s digital original series are appealing most to audiences in a market during these three months, dive deeper into how this looks for the dynamic action and adventure genre and shed light on the overall size of digital original series within the entire market.

The key questions investigated in this report:

1. Are Canadian audiences demanding more linear or more digital content?
2. Which SVOD’s original series are demanded most by Canadian audiences and how is this evolving?
3. In the Action and Adventure genre, which SVOD’s original series are demanded most by Canadian audiences and how is this evolving?

Are Canadian audiences demanding more linear or digital content?

• From February 1st to April 30th 2020, 85.8% of all demand expressed by Canadian audiences is for a series from a linear broadcast, cable or satellite network.
• 14.2% of all demand was for a digital original series from local or global streaming platforms. The demand for digital originals outperforms their title share of 13.4%.
• However, the demand share of digital originals in Canada is lower than the global average of 16.6%. This indicates the global SVOD platforms are facing strong competition from Canadian networks.

Which SVOD’s original series are most in-demand by Canadian audiences?

• Across all digital original series in Canada, Netflix originals account for the largest share of demand over the three months. Netflix series have a 48.4% share of the digital original market.
• However, this share is significantly below the global Netflix average share of 57.1%. Canadian attention is going to Hulu, CBS All Access and Disney+, all of which have higher demand shares in this market than they do globally.
• The increased share for Disney+ may be due to Canada being one of the original Disney+ launch markets in November 2019, giving consumers here more time to develop an interest relative to other markets.

The next chart shows how the demand shares for these five platforms have evolved over the past 12 months:

• In the past three months, the demand shares for digital original series in Canada has been largely stable.
• The demand share for originals from Hulu increased by 2.9% from February to April. Little Fires Everywhere and Devs were some of the titles driving this change.
• Over the 12 months, the Disney+ launch in November had the largest impact on Canadian demand shares. However, from a peak of 8.4% the Disney+ demand share has dropped to 5.5% in April 2020.

Which SVOD’s Action and Adventure original series are demanded most by Canadian audiences?

• Titles from DC Universe have the highest share of demand in the action and adventure genre with 24.7%. The Canadian demand share is in line with the platform’s global appeal of 27.3%.
• CBS All Access and Disney+ both have around 5-point higher demand shares in Canada compared to their global shares. Canadian audiences often express high demand for sci-fi series and both services catered for this with Star Trek: Picard and The Mandalorian respectively.
• Netflix has the second highest share with 23.7%, but the platform’s Canadian share is low compared to global share of 34.2%. Again, the platform’s sci-fi series like Altered Carbon were highly demanded.

The next chart shows how the action and adventure demand shares for these five platforms have evolved over the past 12 months:

• In 2020 so far, the Canadian demand share for CBS All Access original action and adventure series has been growing. From 2.1% in December 2019, the share reached 15.9% in March 2020.
• The trend also shows the DC Universe share seems to have stabilized around 25% in recent months. While it has lost share over the 12 months in the face of increased competition, the platform’s titles still have the largest share of this genre.
• As it did in the overall chart, Disney+ had a strong launch in this genre but has since lost some momentum. From a high point of 32.3% in December 2019 the platform’s share is down to 16.5% in April 2020.

Need more information? Check out our daily updated TV series popularity data for Canada.