Canadian broadcasters lost money in 2009
Spending on foreign programming rose despite financial constraints
Financial data on Canada's private broadcasters released Thursday by the federal regulator confirms a steep slide in industry profitability and revenues in 2009.
Private broadcasters, such as CTV and Global, saw their total revenues fall 7.9 per cent to $1.97 billion.
Last year, two local CTV affiliates closed, several more local stations were sold, and Global made deep cuts in its news service.
| Spending on Canadian programming | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Drama | $88.3M | $75.4M |
| General interest | $90.4M | $80.9M |
| News | $323M | $312.1M |
| Information | $67.2M | $65.9M |
| Music and variety | $24.7M | $38.3M |
| Sports | $7.5M | $3.8M |
| Games shows | $16.6M | $11.1M |
| Source: CRTC |
Canadian broadcasters lost $116.4 million before interest and taxes over the 2009 broadcast year, according to numbers released Thursday by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
Both local and national advertising revenues were down more than 10 per cent over the year.
Broadcasters have asked the CRTC to support a new business model that would include a fee from cable and satellite companies that carry their signals.
Canadian broadcasting distribution companies saw their revenue climb to $11.4 billion in 2009, an increase of $1.1 billion. The broadcast distributors have fought against the proposal to pay a fee for television signals.
A CRTC decision on the fee-for-carriage dispute is to be announced Monday.
While their profitability fell, Canada's broadcasters continued to increase the amount they spend on foreign programming — up 9.2 per cent to $846.3 million in 2009.
This drew a blast from ACTRA, the union representing Canadian acting talent.
"Today's numbers tell the same story we've seen for the past 10 years," Stephen Waddell, ACTRA's national executive director, said in a statement.
"Canadian drama is dying while broadcasters feed their addiction to U.S. programming, and cable companies are making obscene profits while ripping-off Canadians."
Spending on Canadian programming by the private broadcasters fell 3.3 per cent to $599.4 million compared with $619 million in 2008.
ACTRA urged the CRTC to force over-the-air broadcasters to spend a percentage of their revenues on Canadian programming, with at least six per cent of their revenues dedicated to drama, which private broadcasters tend to avoid because it is expensive to produce.