GATINEAU – The numbers mask the risks inherent in launching new TV services, but it seems the risks have paid off for a majority of Canadian cable channels.
Canadian specialty, pay, and pay-per-view TV services have seen their earnings before interests and taxes grow by 19.4% in each year between 2001 and 2005, the CRTC announced today. In that same period, revenues rose an average of 10% per year.
Things really picked up steam in 2005, when EBIT for the services swelled by 31.5%, going from $418.2 million in 2004 to $549.9 million in 2005.
Revenues reached nearly $2.2 billion in 2005, partly because there were more services, and there were more subscribers, the commission said. That was a 6.3% increase from 2004. Revenues from BDUs rose 4.7% in 2005, to $928.4 million. Of that, $460.7 million came from DTH distributors. National advertising rose by 8.7% to $751.3 million.
In its annual report on cable channels, the CRTC is this year reporting for the first time on programming and production spending by type of programming. In terms of Cancon, services spent $162.5 million on drama, $128.4 million on news, $206 million on other information programming, $116.9 million on sports, $38.3 million on musical and variety shows and $45 million on general interest programs.
The report uses data filed to the commission by the cable services.
