OTTAWA and GATINEAU – The Canadian specialty, pay, pay-per-view television and video-on-demand (VOD) services sector saw its total yearly revenues grow 7.6% to $2.9 billion, up from $2.7 billion in the previous year, the CRTC reported.
The Commission released its annual report on the statistical and financial summaries from the specialty, pay and VOD industry Thursday, saying the sector “enjoyed a solid financial performance” for the broadcast year ending August 31, 2008.
While profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) rose by 5.9% to $686.1 million, the PBIT margin "remained consistent", going from 23.7% in 2007 to 23.4% in 2008, the report continued.
The Commission categorized the 2008 revenue sources as follows:
– $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;
– $54.8 million from what it described as “other sources”.
Specialty television services earned $2.3 billion, the largest share of the total revenues pie, while the 49 analog services brought in $2 billion, the 18 Category 1 digital services earned $88.9 million, and the 78 Category 2 digital services garnered $189.7 million.
Pay, pay-per-view and VOD services accounted for the remaining $612 million in revenues.
English-language channels captured $2.4 billion of the total revenues, while French-language channels brought in $481.3 million.
Over the last five years, the number of reporting services has increased from 123 to 182, and total revenues have risen by more than $850 million.
Canadian programming expenditures surpassed the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2008. In total, 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, the CRTC calculated.
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, and $72 million for general interest programming. Spending on foreign programming was $361.1 million, an increase of 9.1% from the $331.1 million spent in 2007.
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. By comparison, the sector employed 5,501 people and paid $408.4 million in salaries last year.
The data compiled in the report was drawn from the annual reports of the Canadian specialty, pay, pay-per-view television and VOD services.
For more on the report, click here.
