Quebecor’s Péladeau wants CBC out of advertising market

Quebecor Inc. CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau wants to see CBC/Radio-Canada blocked from earning advertising revenue, as his company faces decreased ad revenues of its own. Péladeau also railed against foreign players such as Meta Platforms Inc. and criticized the regulatory environment under the CRTC during the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting and a call with financial analysts Thursday, May 8. “Although our platforms deliver considerably more viewing hours than the foreign platforms, advertisers continue to pour their spending into the latter, particularly Meta’s services,” Péladeau said, according to a simultaneous translation of his remarks at the meeting. According to the company’s financial reporting, ad revenue was down by $1.4 million or 1.8 per cent, mainly in TV, for the first quarter of 2025. “Even though TVA Group remained by far the dominant broadcaster network in Quebec, with a market share of more than 42 per cent, the situation remains dire and we must double-down on our efforts to reduce our operating costs and expand our sources of revenue,” Peladeau said during the analysts’ call later in the day. Quebecor’s overall media revenue was $164.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, down $4.2 million or 2.5 per cent from $168.8 million last year. Capital expenditures on that segment was $2.9 million, down 53.2 per cent from $6.2 million. The media segment saw negative cash flow of $21.5 million, slightly better than the $22.9 million it reported in Q1 2024. Péladeau noted Meta continues to block access to news on its platforms and said governments should introduce a tax incentive for advertising dollars spent on Quebec and Canadian media. “Incentives of this kind were introduced to protect Canadian newspapers, and they've existed for many years. At a time when the publication and acceptance of fake news on social media is widely condemned, how can our public institutions continue to encourage it and our government continue to provide it with tax treatment that is more favourable than that reserved for domestic broadcasters,” he said. Closer to home, Péladeau said Quebecor’s “biggest French-language competitor,” CBC/Radio-Canada, gets “excessive” financial support even though it also makes money selling advertising space. “Despite the generous public funding it receives, Radio-Canada competes directly and unfairly with private broadcasters on every front — ratings, content acquisition, and advertising revenue.” He went on to say that CBC/Radio-Canada should not make money from ad revenue, citing the 2020 Yale report. Péladeau made similar comments in 2021, calling for the re-centring of the mission of CBC/Radio-Canada to a “true public interest mission” where it does not receive any advertising income, stating it should move towards a model of complementary, rather than competitive behaviour. Prior to the federal election, then-Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge released a set of proposed changes for CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate under the Broadcasting Act. including removing ads from its news programming. The new Liberal government’s election platform said it would continue to allow such advertising. Meanwhile, despite TVA Sports gaining market share in winter 2025 due to events like the Four Nations hockey face-off and Montréal Canadiens Saturday night hockey, and in the face of its live streaming platform growing, TVA Sports continues to lose money, Péladeau said. “No one should be surprised if TVA Sports goes out of business. After investing more than $230 million in TVA Sports … TVA Sports, at the moment, is facing such a situation. We can’t keep throwing good money after bad.” “Even though TVA Group remained by far the dominant broadcaster network in Quebec, with a market share of more than 42 per cent, the situation remains dire and we must double-down on our efforts to reduce our operating costs and expand our sources of revenue,” Peladeau said during the investors call later in the day. CRTC needs to make more fair decisions, Péladeau says Peladeau said the CRTC needs “to set a fair and equitable regulatory framework, including a drastic reduction of actual financial, administrative, and regulatory burden weighing on Canadian broadcasters, and set meaningful financial contributions from foreign online services.” “For far too long these companies have enjoyed an undue competitive advantage allowing them to access the Canadian broadcasting market without contributing to it while Canadian broadcasters are subject to numerous regulatory obligations, financial costs and a lack of flexibility that impacts our competitiveness…” “Unfortunately, current regulations, especially in Western Canada, favour the incumbents, which long enjoyed a regulatory holiday and continue to enjoy an advantage when it comes to wholesale interest rates, which remain extremely high,” he said. “In fact, Telus pays much lower fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) rates in Quebec and Ontario than what it collects from resellers for the use of its network in Canada's western provinces, including us. This disparity allows Telus to compete with the established players in Eastern Canada, while hampering Freedom's ability to offer new, competitively priced internet access services in Western Canada.” Revenues, profit down Revenues were down just slightly, by $19.7 million or 1.4 per cent, to $1.34 billion. That’s compared to approximately $1.36 billion in the first quarter of 2024. Profit came in at $184.3 million, down almost 10 per cent from $167.6 million. Telecommunications revenue drove the company’s income during the quarter, though it was down compared to Q1 2024 at $1.16 billion. That’s a drop of less than one per cent compared to nearly $1.17 billion. The company noted revenue from mobile service increased by 4.8 per cent to $19.7 million, a change it said was due to increased subscriber connections, partially offset by lower average per-connection revenues. Mobile ARPU (average revenue per user) was $34.31 in the quarter, compared to $35.94 in the first quarter of 2024. Quebecor said the change was because of lower promotional pricing, lower overage revenues, and changes to its customer mix, “including the dilutive effect of Freedom’s and Fizz’s prepaid services.” Mobile phone sales were down 3.8 per cent or $5 million to $126.3 million because of a drop in the number of devices sold, partially offset by increased pricing. Wireline phone service, meanwhile, was down 7.4 per cent or $4.8 million to $59.9 million as subscriber numbers dropped, though that was partially offset by higher average per-connection revenues. Internet revenue was down 2.5 per cent ($7.9 million) to $312.6 million, because of reductions in subscriber base and lower average per-subscriber revenues, the company said. TV service revenue was also down, by $190.2 million or 4.5 per cent, mostly due to lower subscription numbers. Sports and entertainment revenue was $49.7 million, up 6.4 per cent from $46.7 million. That segment includes Quebecor’s Videotron Centre arena and the Musicor label, according to its website, as well as the Québec Remparts and Armada de Blainville-Boisbriand hockey teams. Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) was down $9.9 million or 1.8 per cent to $549.6 million. The change was credited to a $22.5 million increase in stock-based compensation across all segments, partially offset by a $12.5 million increase in the telecom segment’s adjusted EBITDA, excluding the impact of stock-based compensation. Telecommunications also drove spending at Quebecor in the quarter at $142.2 million, up almost seven per cent from $132.9 million. Sports and entertainment spending was $1.2 million, down 14.2 per cent from $1.4 million. hdaley@thewirereport.ca

Quebecor’s Péladeau wants CBC out of advertising market

Broadcast |
By Hannah Daley
| May 8, 2025

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

Quebecor’s Péladeau wants CBC out of advertising market

Broadcast | By Hannah Daley | May 8, 2025

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Related Stories

OpenMedia calls federal digital policy ‘disaster’, makes pitches for feds’ consideration

OPINION: Time to restore Radio Canada International or Canada’s world service

Carney promises $150M in new funding for CBC, will continue to allow ads

Cardozo calls for CBC/Radio-Canada reforms, says it is ‘essential service’

Reuse & Permissions

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

Broadcast |
By Hannah Daley
| May 8, 2025