From CBC News:
Within two years, streaming services like Netflix will be more popular in Canada than cable TV, a new report suggests.
By the end of 2020, 10.6 million Canadian households will be signed up with streaming services, market research firm Convergence Research Group forecasts. That's four per cent higher than the projected 10.2 million who will have traditional TV subscriptions.
"It's kind of the calm before the storm," said Convergence president Brahm Eiley.
He says Netflix's surging subscriber numbers, coupled with new streaming service competitors, such as Amazon Prime Video, will help drive a fundamental shift in Canadian viewing habits, moving them from cable to online.
"The numbers are so big now that it really is happening," he said. "The writing's on the wall."
The report found about a two per cent decline in Canadian television subscribers in both 2016 and 2017, and forecasts a further annual average decline of 2.6 per cent through to 2020.
Meanwhile, 24 per cent more households signed up for streaming services in 2017 compared to the previous year.
[...]
The numbers are no surprise to industry expert Irene Berkowitz, who believes traditional TV's decline is inevitable, fuelled by a demand for generally cheaper and more convenient streaming services.
"It's a consumer-driven disruption," said Berkowitz, an instructor at Toronto's Ryerson University. "[Traditional TV] is clunky, it's infuriating and it feels like a horse and buggy or an electric typewriter."The CRTC tried valiantly to convince Canadian cable providers to sell the sort of à la carte services that consumers actually wanted to buy, but cable companies weren't having any of that, and the results have been predictable.