Carriage fees helped discretionary channels earn 7.5% increase in 2008 revenues

While conventional broadcasters struggle to stay solvent, discretionary services continued to enjoy stable returns in 2008, primarily as a result of nearly $1.9 billion in subscriber fees from BDUs -- a regulatory concession broadcasters have been lobbying to get for years. More than 65% of the discretionary services sector's total annual revenue came from monthly carriage fees. Statistical and financial summaries released by the CRTC today show that specialty, pay, PPV and VOD reported a 7.6% increase in total revenues last year, to $2.9 billion, up from $2.7 billion in 2007. While profits before interest and taxes rose by 5.9%, coming in at $686.1 million, the PBIT margin remained consistent, going from 23.7% in 2007 to 23.4% in 2008. Over the last five years, the number of reporting services climbed from 123 to 182, and total revenues rose by over $850 million. The total revenues of $2.9 billion were generated from: $1.3 billion from cable television subscribers $596.5 million from direct-to-home satellite subscribers $1 billion from national advertising $20.6 million from local advertising, and $54.8 million from other sources. English-language channels captured $2.4 billion of the total revenues, while French-language channels brought in $481.3 million. The largest share of the total revenues, $2.3 billion, was earned by specialty television services, including: $2 billion from 49 analog services $88.9 million from 18 Category 1 digital services, and $189.7 million from 78 Category 2 digital services. Pay, pay-per-view and VOD services accounted for the remaining $612 million in revenues. Canadian programming The amount spent on Canadian programming surpassed $1 billion for the first time in 2008. In total, these services invested $1.1 billion in Canadian programming, an increase of 11.3% from $954.5 million in 2007. Of the overall programming expenditures, $362.4 million was paid to independent producers to acquire Canadian programs. Spending on Canadian programming included $146.6 million for news programs, $235.4 million for other information programs, $270.3 million for sports programs, $202.1 million for drama, $55 million for musical and variety shows, $72 million for general interest programming.These services also spent $361.1 million on foreign programming, which represented an increase of 9.1% from $331.1 million in 2007. Employment In 2008, Canadian specialty, pay, pay-per-view television and VOD services employed 5,495 people and paid a total of $406.8 million in salaries. In comparison, the previous year this sector employed 5,501 people and paid a total of $408.4 million in salaries.

Carriage fees helped discretionary channels earn 7.5% increase in 2008 revenues

News | 03/26/2009 7:23 pm EDT

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