OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Maybe things are getting faster at the Commission after all.
The CRTC today released its sixth annual Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report. The report assesses the impact of its regulations, policies and decisions on the Canadian broadcasting industry, in light of the objectives of the Broadcasting Act.
Beginning this year, publication has been moved up several months so that data contained in the report will be available to the Canadian public and the regulated industries on a more timely basis.
The report deals with the radio, television, and broadcast distribution sectors, as well as social issues and the Internet.
Also for the first time, the report publishes some BBM metered data on viewing of Canadian TV programming.
Here are the highlights:
Radio
* Canadians have access to 1,158 radio services, of which 867 are in English, 253 are in French, and 38 are in third languages.
* In 2004, Canadians listened to radio an average of 19.5 hours per week, which represents the same number of hours as in 2003.
* Revenues for Canadian private radio stations exceeded $1.2 billion in 2004, and profits before interest and tax came in at $224 million.
* Since the adoption of the CRTC’s commercial radio policy in 1998, Canadian radio stations have spent more than $156 million on Canadian talent development.
Television
* Canadians have access to 511 English-language television services, 115 French-language services, and 53 third-language services, for a total of 679 television services.
* The report reviews for the first time the viewing to Canadian programs over the entire broadcast year using metered data. According to BBM metered data for the 2003-2004 broadcast year, dramas and comedies remain the most popular television programs, capturing 43% of all television viewing. According to the same source, English-language Canadian dramas and comedies broadcast by private conventional English-language Canadian stations capture 10% of the viewing to all drama and comedy programs on those stations. In comparison, Canadian drama and comedy programs broadcast by the CBC account for 43% of the viewing to the genre on CBC stations, and Canadian pay and specialty services capture 30% of the viewing to the genre on those services. For Francophone services, Canadian drama and comedy programs broadcast by private conventional stations garner 23% of the viewing to the genre on those stations as compared to 66% for the SRC and 37% for Canadian specialty and pay services.
* Total 2004 revenues of English-language specialty, pay and pay-per-view services of nearly $1.7 billion equalled those of English-language private conventional stations for the first time. French-language private conventional stations had revenues of $422 million, while those for French-language pay, pay-per-view and specialty services totalled $363 million in 2004.
* In 2004, Canadians watched television for 25.8 hours every week on average, according to Nielsen Media Research, or for 21.4 hours according to BBM. For both, this represents a decrease of approximately 20 minutes from the preceding year.
* Audience share for Canadian stations compared with non-Canadian stations increased between 1993 and 2004. In Quebec, this audience share rose from 88.3% in 1993 to 90.1% in 2004, and in the other Canadian provinces, it went from 67.3% to 71.9%.
* Since the adoption of the CRTC’s television policy in 1999, tangible benefits to the Canadian broadcasting system flowing from television ownership transfers have totalled $543.1 million.
Broadcast distribution
* In Canada, there are currently 2,003 broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs), of which 1,960 are cable companies, two are Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite distribution undertakings, 29 are multipoint distribution systems (MDS) and 12 are subscription television systems (STV).
* In 2004, class 1 cable accounted for 74.1% of basic service subscriptions, DTH for 25.5%, and MDS and STS combined for 0.4%.
* The number of digital service subscribers at the end of September 2004 totalled 4,450,600, an increase of 24% over the end of June 2003. Of that total, 46% subscribed to digital cable, and 52% to DTH services.
* Revenues for class 1 cable undertakings were $4.6 billion in 2004, compared with $4.2 billion the previous year. Combined revenues for DTH, MDS and STV totalled $1.4 billion in 2004, up from $1.2 billion in 2003.
* BDUs contributed $152 million to the Canadian Television Fund and other independent production funds in 2004. Class 1 cable undertakings contributed an additional $74 million to the operation of community channels in 2004.
Internet
* In December 2004, 71% of Canadian households had a computer, 3 % more than in 2003. As in 2003, 76% of Canadians had access to the Internet at home, work or elsewhere.
* There was a marked increase in the subscription rate to high speed Internet, from 50% in March 2003 to 63% in December 2004.
