Canadian Adverising Industry
Beth McNeill Introduction The topic of discussion in this paper is
advertising in Canada. It will argue that the Canadian advertising industry
strives to protect themselves from competition in the United States. The paper
will discuss how the Canadian advertising industry allots their money to
different forms of media to ward off the United States competition. Tracing the
history of advertising from the early 1960’s to the present day, will help to
show why Canada concentrates on the television and radio portion of the media.
The paper will display the philosophy or reason behind their advertising, as
well as the structure of their industry. The audience and the jobs and training
that take place will also be examined to better understand the Canadian
advertising industry. The external environmental factors such as technology,
language, and the economy will also affect the advertising industry. This issue
should be addressed to understand the importance of international competition
and how it can affect or even control an industry. To better understand the
advertising industry in Canada we need to look at some facts. The communication
lines in Canada are expanding daily. These communication vehicles are how
advertising is spread. The more Canada strives to be evident in the
communication lines, the less influence the United States can have on the
Canadian industry. There are 18.5 million telephone lines and 3 million cellular
phones in use.
There are 32.3 million radios in Canada and there are 535 AM
stations and 53 FM stations. As of 1997 there was 80 television broadcast
stations (with over 100 repeater stations) and 21.5 million televisions. In 1999
there was an estimated 750 Internet service providers (CASI). There are 120
daily newspapers, 108 are in English and the other 12 are in French (Pang).
There are also seventy-five ethnic weekly papers published (Pang). Communication
is part of the second largest service industry in Canada. With such a large
country and such few people Canada relies on strong communication to tie people
together. Canada was the first country to launch a communications satellite and
has been in the forefront of developing communications technology. With more and
more changes in technology, the government, and the economy Canada can
communicate to all citizens in many ways, keeping the communication lines tight.
CBC is Canada’s national radio and television service. It was developed in 1936
to help prevent the threat of American programming to dominate Canadian culture
(Shepard). Canada has strived to keep their culture of Canadian decent. The
United States and Canada have a very strong relationship because they share the
longest undefended border in the world and are close allies as members of the
North Atlantic Treaty organization (NATO). The United States is the largest
investor in the Canadian industry and the largest market for Canadian trade.
