Commercial radio's profitability screeched to a halt in 2009: StatsCan

OTTAWA - The economic downturn in 2009 pulled down the profitability of the commercial radio industry in Canada two years in a row, the first time since 1993 that revenue has fallen from one year to the next, according to data from Statistics Canada released Tuesday.Private radio broadcasters' operating revenue declined 5.2% compared with 2008 to $1.5 billion (current dollars) in 2009, while advertising revenues dropped 5.5%. Private radio broadcasters earned 17.9 cents of profits before interest and taxes per dollar of revenue in 2009, the worst performance since 2002. These results contrast with the industry's steady increase in profitability over...