Media Technology Monitor (MTM) has released a series of reports on media and technology use in specific Canadian markets that reveal Albertans lead the country in early adoption of SVOD and smartphone use. Albertans are more likely than other Anglophones to have internet-connected devices, such as smartphones. More than half own an iPhone and 62% own a tablet. Manitoba and Saskatchewan residents are less likely to have internet-connected devices. Specifically, smart speakers are less popular with only 19% of Manitobans/Saskatchewans owning one, compared to 24% of the general Anglophone population. Social media is more popular among residents of major cities like Montreal and Toronto as well as the Atlantic provinces. Looking at Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) services, such as Netflix, Alberta also leads the way with 74% of those surveyed subscribing. B.C. comes in a close second at 73%. Francophones who live in Montreal are also more likely than the general Francophone population to subscribe to SVOD services. MTM’s research also found that Francophones living outside Quebec are more likely to subscribe to a conventional TV service than those in Quebec, as well as satellite TV (27%) and IPTV (20%).

Google and Facebook have been receiving a growing share of federal advertising dollars, according to Public Service and Procurement Canada data, obtained by the Toronto Star. They reveal federal spending with the digital giants has quadrupled under the Trudeau government between 2015 and 2019. According to the report, spending with the foreign-owned platforms has jumped from $3.9 million in 2015-16 (9.2% of total government ad spending) to $15.8 million in 2018-19 (about 27% of the government’s total ad budget of $58.6 million). That was down slightly from the 31.4% share spent with the digital giants in 2017-18.

BBTV Holdings has announced it’s expanding its offerings to influencers on Instagram and TikTok, including Branded Entertainment Sales and SaaS/Content Management. With Instagram now boasting over one billion monthly users and TikTok expected to surpass 1.2 billion, BBTV says it sees an opportunity to help content creators become more successful across platforms where audiences are quickly growing and consuming content. The Vancouver-based, publicly-traded company has also launched a new Video Comparison analytics solution highlighting key video performance metrics.