Canadian television in general, and streaming service CBC Gem in specific, has a problem to solve and an opportunity for growth: Representing more of the country’s citizens by creating more inclusive programming. Through a 15-question online survey that elicited both quantitative and qualitative data from 29 respondents, this report includes data analysis that has yielded insightful results about what types of television programming the Canadian population likes and wants. This will allow CBC Gem to discover previously unknown customer segments and inspire communication strategies for newly defined markets.

1. Canada Represent for
CBC Gem
Mahlena-Rae Johnson.
SlideShare Presentation.
May 13, 2019.

2. The Problem
According to Statistics Canada, “More than 200
ethnic origins were reported in the 2011 National
Household Survey (NHS)”, over 19% of the total
population “identified themselves as a member of a
visible minority group”, and the three largest visible
minority groups--almost two-thirds of the visible
minority population--were “South Asians, Chinese
and Blacks.”
However, those groups are not necessarily visible
in Canadian media.
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Image credit: CBC.ca

3. The Opportunity
Canadian television has the opportunity to
represent more of the country’s citizens.
Publicly-financed streaming service CBC
Gem could generate higher engagement
from new viewers who have not seen
themselves portrayed in Canadian media
before by creating more inclusive
programming.
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4. What is CBC Gem?
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5. Research Design
The Canada Represent survey contained 15 total questions, a mix of nine
Quantitative research and six Qualitative research questions that linked to the
problem and the opportunity of representation in Canadian media.
The questions centered on the television viewing experience of users who live in
Canada and their familiarity with programming on CBC Gem.
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6. The fielding social media campaign ran from March 9 to
March 16, 2019 on four platforms.
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Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter
Still image posts and video posts appeared on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, with messaging and
hashtags appealing to Canadians who watch TV, including #Canada, #OCanada, and #WeTheNorth. The campaign
yielded 29 survey responses.

7. Data Analysis
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8. All of the respondents currently live in Canada.
8Photo credit: Unsplash.com

9. “Did you grow up in Canada?”
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10. “Which province do you live in?”
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11. “What city do you live in?”
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12. “Which age range do you fall in?”
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13. “How do you learn about new television shows? (Select all
that apply.)”
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14. “Which streaming services do you use? (Select all
that apply.)”
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15. “What television shows do you watch on a
weekly basis?”
The respondents watch a variety of televisions
shows, including comedies, dramas, sports
programming, competition shows, and news.
Some shows that respondents referenced multiple
times were Arrow (3), The Big Bang Theory (5),
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (3), Grey’s Anatomy (3), Jane
the Virgin (2), Kim’s Convenience (2), Last Week
Tonight (2), Riverdale (6), and This Is Us (3).
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Image credit: CBC.ca

16. "When I watch my favorite television shows, I feel _______
because _______ ."
The most common responses were “Happy” (11) and “Relaxed” (7).
Other respondents also shared the following sentiments:
“When I watch my favorite television shows, I feel happy because it gives me a break from
school/ work” (This person watches Riverdale and The Bachelor.)
“Less pain because I can escape into another world for a while.” (This person’s favorite
shows are from the DC Universe.)
“Like a queen. I am a queen.” (This person’s favorite show is RuPaul’s Drag Race.)
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17. “Select the statement you agree with.”
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18. The respondents who answered “I feel represented in Canadian media.”
answered “What ethnic group and what nationality do you identify with?”
with the following:
“Chinese”
“Indian”
“I'm a white guy with hair”
“White Canadian”
“white”
“Caucasian/Canadian”
“asian”
“Caucasian”
“UK/white”
“White, Canadian”
“Mutt ;)”
“White”
“Human race”
“White American”
“U.S. Caucasian”
“Canadian”
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19. The respondents who answered “I do not feel represented in Canadian
media.” answered “What ethnic group and what nationality do you identify
with?” with the following:
“asian canadian”
“Slavic, Ukrainian”
“Middle East- Egyptian”
“Asian”
“Chinese”
“Human and Canadian”
“Latino”
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20. Other respondents provided a variety of write-in
answers.
“This is odd, do you mean as a fever? As
a culture? I'm 5 the generation Canadian
maybe that affects my interpretation of the
question”
“I'm from Quebec and French speaking
and I do not feel represented in most
things "canadian".”
“I feel somewhat represented.”
“I've never given it much thought”
“I don't pay attention”
“I don't need to feel represented in
Canadian media, I am American.”
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21. Why you do feel represented in Canadian media:
“I feel like the asian culture receives the right amount of
representation in media, news, and journalism.”
“I'm a white cishet woman - I'm well-represented”
“Because I'm white in Canada, and while there is
increasing diversity, there are still a LOT of white
people in media.”
“Many TV shows in Canada use asian
actor/actress/model”
“White, more lesbian characters lately”
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Image credit: CBC.ca

22. Why you do not feel represented in Canadian
media:
“I have not seen any presence”
“There is nothing in Arabic on the
Canadian TV”
“Not a lot of Chinese faces in major roles
and I’m not very ethnic anyway”
“Not sure”
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Image credit: CBC.ca

23. Other responses provided additional insights on
representation.
“I don't really have a reason, this question feels more geared towards previously identified minority
groups”
“Because of my French origins, of my language, but even more of my way of thinking. I feel closer to the
East/West American/Canadian coasts then most in between plaes.”
“There are white people on tv, so sure, but I haven’t quite related to some of the women I have seen. I feel
like the focus is either on career or home life and I haven’t really seen much nuance there.”
“I am American. I don't expect Canadian media to represent me. Everything else does already.”
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24. “Which television shows that you watch on a regular basis
represent your life in Canada?”
Four respondents answered “Kim’s Convenience”. Those respondents identified as
“Chinese”, “asian canadian”, “White”, and “Latino”.
Two respondents answered “This Hour Has 22 Minutes”. Those respondents identified as
“Caucasian” and “Caucasian Canadian (this is a word question because unlike Americans
we don't add Canadian after other nationalities)”.
Many other respondents answered “None” or “not sure”.
One respondent said, “None, but that has nothing to do with what show is out there but more
to do with my choice of shows. I don't want to see *my* life, I want to escape it! LOL”.
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25. “Which of these CBC Gem shows do you watch? (Select
all that apply.)”
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26. “What other shows have you watched on CBC Gem in the
past years?”
69% of the respondents had not watched any other
shows on CBC Gem.
Two respondents answered “Luther”.
Other answers included the following:
“Canada's a drag. I just got CBC Gem today.”
“Just downloaded the app last week!”
“I've never heard of CBC Gem”
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Image credit: CBC.ca

27. Recommendations
1. To retain the existing CBC membership, perform a similar survey and focus
group with CBC Members to generate more representative results of their
demographic.
2. To increase CBC membership, perform a similar survey and focus group with
CBC watchers who are not members to generate more representative results of
the larger Canadian population.
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28. Conclusion
Generating this type of timely research would be a worthwhile investment for CBC
Gem, as consumers’ media viewing habits remain in constant flux and the
demographics of the Canadian population continue to change.
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29. Questions?
Email Mahlena-Rae Johnson at mahlenasguide@gmail.com.
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30. Thank you.

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