Specialty and Pay lead 5.4% increase in 2008 TV operating revenues

OTTAWA – Operating revenues for Canada's TV broadcasting industry totaled $6.5 billion (current dollars) in 2008, up 5.4% from 2007 totals, according to data from Statistics Canada.The increase was due in part to a 13.2% advance in public and non-profit television revenues, while the upturn was largely attributable to advertising revenues from the Summer Olympics and a substantial increase in grants, the report detailed.Operating revenues for private conventional television fell 1.8% to $2.1 billion in 2008 - the second annual decline in revenues in three years for this segment - due primarily to the loss of advertising market shares to the...