According to the CRTC, private conventional TV stations in Canada improved their profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) from $90.9 million in 2006 to $112.9 million in 2007. Their PBIT margin rose from 4.24% to 5.2% over that period as well.
Private broadcasters generated $2.2 billion in total revenue last year. Revenues from the sale of local advertising grew 3.3% to reach $387.9 million, while national advertising sales remained the same as 2006 and held at $1.5 billion.
From 2006 and 2007, spending on Canadian programming fell 1.2% from $623.7 million to $616 million. Of this total, $143.5 million was paid to independent producers to acquire Canadian programming. In addition, private broadcasters spent $721.9 million on foreign programming in 2007, up 4.9% from the previous year. Here is a breakdown of the spending on Canadian programming:
Source: CRTC, 03/04/2008