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The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued its annual Communications Monitoring Report. The report, which is based on 2009 data, provides an overview of the Canadian telecommunications and broadcasting industries.
In 2009, the communications industry accounted for 4.6% of Canada's gross domestic product with overall revenues rising 2.1% to $55.4 billion, compared with revenues of $54.3 billion the previous year.
As technological convergence continues to evolve in the 21st century, Canadians are increasingly using mobile and Internet services to communicate and access broadcasting content.
Broadcasting
In 2009, revenues for the broadcasting industry rose by 3% and totalled $14.4 billion. Growth was primarily driven by the distribution of television signals and by the specialty and pay television sector, which recorded increases of 7.4% and 5.8%, respectively.
These gains were partially offset by a drop off in advertising. The effects were felt most strongly by conventional television stations and radio stations, whose revenues declined by 7.4% and 5.2%, respectively.
Internet usage among Canadians reached new highs in 2009, with the consumption of broadcasting content among the most popular activities. Twenty-five per cent of anglophones and 20% of francophones reported watching a television program online. Similarly, 17% of anglophones and 14% of francophones listened to a radio station's audio stream over the Internet.
In 2009, the broadcasting industry contributed more than $2.8 billion to the development of Canadian talent and the creation and broadcast of Canadian programming.
The Communications Monitoring Report contains broadcasting data for the year ended August 31, 2009. The report reflects the worldwide economic downturn and the accompanying decline in advertising revenues experienced by broadcasters.
Television
In 2009, Canadians could choose from 704 television services, which consisted of 459 English-language services, 111 French-language services and 134 services in other languages.
Canadians watched an average of 26.5 hours of television per week, which was slightly below the 2008 average of 26.6 hours.
Overall revenues for commercial television services were relatively unchanged from one year to the next, coming in at $5.47 billion. A decrease in revenues for conventional television stations was mostly offset by an increase in revenues for specialty and pay services.
Private conventional television stations generated $1.97 billion in revenues in 2009, which was down 7.8% from $2.14 billion the previous year.
Similarly, the CBC's conventional television stations reported $392 million in advertising and other commercial revenues, a 5% decrease from $412 million in 2008.
Specialty, pay and pay-per-view television and video-on-demand services saw their revenues increase 5.8% from $2.9 billion in 2008 to $3.1 billion in 2009.
In 2009, private conventional television broadcasters invested $599.4 million on Canadian programming, or $20.2 million less than the $619.6 million spent the previous year. During the same period, spending on Canadian programming by specialty and pay television services totalled $1 billion, which did not a represent a change from the previous year.
Broadcasting distribution
In 2009, 8.5 million households subscribed to television services delivered via cable or Internet Protocol Television. An additional 2.8 million households subscribed to satellite services.
The number of subscribers that receive digital television services jumped to 7.6 million in 2009, an increase of 11.9% over the 6.8 million subscribers a year earlier. Sixty-eight per cent of all subscribers now receive digital television services.
Revenues generated from the distribution of television programming went from $6.9 billion in 2008 to $7.5 billion in 2009, an increase of 7.4%.
On average, subscribers paid $2.78 more per month for their services in 2009, an increase of 5% over the previous year. This increase can be explained by higher monthly fees, a greater consumption of pay, pay-per-view and video-on-demand services, and consumers upgrading to digital or high-definition television.
In 2009, broadcasting distribution companies contributed $352 million to Canadian programming, including programming for community channels. This total was 8% higher than the $325 million allocated for this purpose in 2008.
New media broadcasting
Anglophones spent 14.5 hours online per week in 2009, up from 13.8 hours, while francophones spent 11.8 hours online, up from 11.1 hours.
Anglophones spent 2.2 hours per week viewing online television content and 4.1 hours per week streaming radio content. At the same time, francophones spent 1.3 hours per week viewing online television content and 4.6 hours per week streaming radio content.
Source: CRTC, 07/29/2010
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