OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Revenues at Canada’s AM and FM radio stations dropped 5.2% to $1.5 billion for the broadcast year ending August 31, 2009, a CRTC report said Thursday.
Expenses, however, also fell by approximately 1.7% to $1.2 billion in 2009, due in part to a reduction in the industry’s work force. The commercial radio industry employed 10,191 people and paid $632 million in total salaries for the 2009 fiscal year, compared to 10,347 people and $635.4 million in total salaries for 2008. Total profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) were $272 million for the fiscal year, and the PBIT margin fell to 18%, from 21% in 2008.
Canada’s 495 FM radio stations generated over $1.2 billion in total revenues. English-language FM stations saw revenues fall by 5.8% from the previous year to just under $1 billion, while their French-language counterparts generated $227 million, a slight increase from the year before. Ethnic FM stations’ revenues fell by 3.3% to $16 million.
With seven fewer AM stations than in the previous year, the country’s 149 AM radio stations generated just over $300 million, a drop of 7.4% from the previous year. English-language AM stations’ revenues fell by almost 8% to $272 million, while their French-language counterparts decreased 8.5% to $11.6 million. Canada’s 11 ethnic AM stations experienced a slight increase in revenues to just over $22 million.
The CRTC compiled the data for this report from the annual financial returns of private commercial radio stations from September 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009. It therefore reflects the worldwide economic downturn and the accompanying decline in advertising revenues, the press release noted.
