By Connie Thiessen
The CRTC has released its annual snapshot of the broadcast sector for 2022-23, which overall remained profitable, with the exception of conventional television.
For the 2023 broadcast year, ended Aug. 31, 2023, the commission’s report says Radio, Discretionary TV, and Broadcast Distribution Undertakings (BDUs) remained in the black, while Digital Media Broadcasting Undertakings (DMBU), like Spotify and Disney+, experienced ongoing revenue growth. Conventional television continued to operate at a loss. In total, broadcasting revenues decreased by 0.37 per cent from the 2022 to 2023 broadcast year.
Commercial Radio reported a revenue decrease of .55 per cent, Conventional TV (-7.16 per cent), Discretionary TV (-6.31 per cent), and BDU (-5.37 per cent), compared to 2022. Digital undertakings on the other hand, reported revenue increases of more than 14%. Profit Before Interest and Taxes (PBIT) stayed positive for Commercial Radio (4.6 per cent), Commercial Discretionary TV (12.1 oer cent), and BDU (7 per cent), while the Commercial Traditional Television sector reported a PBIT margin of -30.5 per cent.
Revenue generated by English radio stations accounted for 77.9 per cent of total commercial radio revenue, followed by French (17.9 per cent) and Ethnic (4.1 per cent) stations. Local ads comprised 66.7 per cent of total commercial radio revenue, and for the second year in a row continued to recover, up 3.14 per cent. English commercial stations reported the largest year-over-year increase in local advertising (3.35 per cent), followed by French (2.62 per cent) and Ethnic stations (1.75 per cent). National ads comprised 29.5 per cent of total commercial radio revenue, with commercial stations reporting a year-over-year decrease of 7.95 per cent in national advertising.
Television
Commercial conventional and discretionary television services reported a decrease in revenue compared to the 2022 broadcast year, with advertising accounting for 92.2 per cent of commercial television revenue, most of that generated through national ads (72.23 per cent). The commission says its data suggests that national ad revenue is decreasing at a faster rate for English services than French services. Subscribers (66.92 per cent) and advertising (31.2 per cent) accounted for the majority of discretionary television revenue, with subscriber revenue down 4.20 per cent and advertising revenue dropping by 11.38 per cent.
Over the past year, BDU subscribers decreased 2.54 per cent and revenue 5.45 per cent. Cable and IPTV services grossed a larger share of total BDU revenue (81.2 per cent) than DTH (Direct-to-home) (18.8 per cent). Cable and IPTV subscribers fell by 0.76 per cent, compared to 2022, as DTH decreased by 13.41 per cent. Still, the CRTC says its returns suggest DTH services are more profitable with an operating income of $403 million, compared to $87 million for Cable and IPTV.
DMBU (Digital Media Broadcast Undertaking) audio service revenues decreased by 2.28 per cent year-over-year, with an compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.6 per cent since 2019. DMBU audiovisual service revenues increased by 19.05 per cent year-over-year, with CAGR of 16.8 per cent over the same period.
The commission says Canadians are shifting their subscription spending habits away from BDU subscriptions and steadily increasing spending on DMBU subs. Estimated monthly spending per household on BDU services have fallen from $38.37 in 2019 to $31.42 in 2023, while DMBU expenditures have increased from $20.39 in 2019 to $31.32 in 2023.
Television production growth has been fueled by foreign investment with total film and television production in Canada at $12.19 billion in 2023, up 4 per cent over 2022. Foreign production accounted for 56% or $6.86 billion of total film and TV production in Canada. Of that $6.86 billion, $5.12 billion was invested in television productions, with 74 per cent of foreign production projects originating in the U.S.
