OTTAWA and GATINEAU – Canada’s AM and FM radio stations generated $1.58 billion in revenues for the broadcast year ending August 31, 2008, an increase of just over 5% from the year prior, according to a CRTC report.
Canada’s 474 FM radio stations reported over $1.25 billion in total revenues for 2008.
Over the past five years, average revenues for FM stations have increased by approximately 8%, with revenues for English-language FM stations topping $1 billion, and their French-language counterparts generating $219 million. Ethnic FM stations increased their revenues by over 4% for a total of $16.8 million.
With the number of AM stations in 2008 at 154, down 18 from a year ago, total revenues dipped 0.2% in 2008 to $329 million.
Revenues from the 136 English-language AM radio stations experienced an average 3.3 % growth in total revenues over the past five years, reaching $295 million in 2008. In contrast, revenues for the nine French-language AM stations went from $16.2 million in 2007 to $12.4 million in 2008 – a 24% decrease from the previous year. Canada’s nine ethnic AM stations also experienced a decline in total revenues – down 1.85% from $21.8 million in 2007 to $21.4 million in 2008.
As of August 31, 2008, the private commercial radio industry employed 10,347 people and paid out $635.4 million in total salaries for the fiscal year.
The CRTC compiled the data for this report from the annual financial returns of private commercial radio stations from September 1, 2007 to August 31, 2008. The report therefore does not reflect the subsequent worldwide economic downturn and the accompanying decline in advertising revenues, the press release noted.
