Pay and specialty TV posts the most impressive numbers in CRTC report

The CRTC’s 2006 Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report released on Friday June 30 will add more debate to the policy hearings for commercial radio and over-the-air television currently underway. On the radio side, listenership had decreased across the board from 1999 to 2005, but most acutely in the teens (aged 12-17) and young adults aged 18-24 and 25-34 categories. The increasing move away from AM-band transmission was also evident, with radio tuning to AM stations decreasing 6.7% for English-language stations and 3.8% for French-language ones between 1997 and 2005. Despite a wave of acquisitions and station swaps in 2005, listenership at Canada’s five largest radio broadcasters – Corus Entertainment Inc., Standard Broadcasting Corp. Ltd., Rogers Communications Inc., Astral Media Radio Inc., and CHUM Ltd. – remained more or less constant between 2003 and 2005 at an average of 53% of the total radio audience. In total, commercial radio revenues were up 53% between 1997 and 2005, with the 88.3% gain in FM-radio revenue more than compensating for the 4.5% dip in AM’s fortunes. Although French-language AM radio licensees had borne the brunt of AM’s decline over the 1998-2005 period, they saw a staggering 37% drop in profit margin before interest and taxes (PBIT margin) in 2005 alone. On the television viewership front, pay and specialty channels were the big winners, with Anglophone services growing their audiences by 3.9% in Canada excluding Quebec, and Francophone services gaining 2.8% more audience share within Quebec (see chart on p.1). Pay and specialty also led the pack in terms of revenue growth, although conventional broadcasters also managed to eke out positive numbers. Drama/Comedy was still the most-viewed genre on English-language TV networks, by nearly a three-to-one margin over second-place News/Analysis and Interpretation last year. However, more than three-quarters of programming in the Drama/Comedy category came from non-Canadian sources. In French-language markets, foreign-generated programming was less prevalent in most genres, but still dominated Drama/Comedy – again the most-watched genre – with a 65% share. Interestingly, Canadian programming was more watched on conventional private-sector broadcasters in Quebec, with a 69% share of total viewing, than in English Canada (34% of total viewing). The report noted that conventional and specialty broadcasters collectively created 287 hours of original drama programming last year, giving them more than five hours of additional advertising time under the CRTC’s incentive program. On the audience side, however, only CHUM met its 2004-05 viewership targets for Canadian Drama/Comedy in the Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary markets: the Toronto-based broadcaster secured a 12.1% audience share for Canadian Drama/Comedy in those three cities last year, besting its target of 10.6%. CTV Inc. and CanWest Global Communications Corp., meanwhile, fell short of their targets in the three municipalities. Finally, the broadcast distribution industry has demonstrated consistent growth since 2001, the report notes; in 2005 alone, BDU revenues gained by more than $100 million. Rogers Cable Inc. was still the most-subscribed-to distributor in the country, followed closely by cable rival Shaw Communications Inc. Bell ExpressVu LLP and cableco Vidéotron Ltée were third and fourth respectively, with Star Choice Television Network Inc. and Cogeco Cable Inc. rounding out the top six BDUs. The cablecos were also most successful at growing their customer base for digital services, with a 28% growth rate for the 2004-05 period. LINK: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/reports/PolicyMonitoring/2006/bpmr2006.pdf

Pay and specialty TV posts the most impressive numbers in CRTC report

Broadcast | July 4, 2006

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