Canadians continue to subscribe to the Internet and cable television in higher proportions, according to new numbers released from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today.

The report found that 70 per cent of Canadian households subscribed to the Internet in 2006, a six per cent increase from 2005, and 60 per cent use high speed internet, up from 51 per cent in 2005.

The report revealed that 22 per cent of Canadians listened to radio over the Internet in 2006 and six per cent watched television. Advertising on the Internet almost doubled from 2005, totalling $1 billion in 2006.

In terms of television, access, revenues and industry spending were up although viewership was down slightly from 2005.

In 2006, 7.4 million Canadians subscribed to cable services, compared with 6.8 million in 2005. Another 2.6 million Canadians subscribed to direct-to-home satellite distribution and multipoint distribution systems, up from 2.5 million in 2005.

Revenues for television inched up in 2006 with conventional television revenues reaching $2.6 billion in 2006, an increase over the $2.5 billion in 2005. Revenues for specialty television and video-on-demand services totalled $2.5 billion in 2006, compared with $2.2 billion in 2005. Digital television service still represents only 5 per cent of the television sector's revenues, with $248 million, according to the CRTC.

Private conventional broadcasters spent $623.7 million on Canadian programming in 2006, which was slightly higher than the $587 million spent in 2005. Expenses for pay and specialty television services totalled $890.5 million in 2006, compared with $724.7 million in 2005.

Despite these increases, Canadians watched on average 27.6 hours of television per week in 2006, slightly under the 28.1 hours in 2005.

The report also showed that on average, Canadians listened to 18.6 hours of radio per week in 2006, which is a little less than in 2005, when they listened to 19.1 hours. Private commercial radio stations captured slightly more than 80 per cent of total radio tuning, the CBC, 11.6 per cent, satellite radio, 1 per cent, and Internet stations captured, 0.3 per cent. Revenues for private commercial stations totalled $1.4 billion in 2006, which is an increase of 5.7 per cent over the previous year.

The CRTC report also revealed that 58 per cent of Canadians used a cellphone to access the Internet 2006, 14 per cent had an MP3 player and 4 per cent used a BlackBerry.