Commercial radio revenue growth slows to 0.4%

Canadian commercial radio stations’ revenues rose slightly in 2012 by 0.4 per cent, led by revenues from FM radio stations, new CRTC data show. Revenue growth slowed as there was “competition from satellite, online and mobile services,” a CRTC release said Wednesday. Total revenues for a total of 675 commercial radio stations rose from $1.61 billion to $1.62 billion between 2011 and 2012, or by 0.4 per cent, while expenses fell $3.7 million, the CRTC said. The latest statistics are for the broadcast year ending on Aug. 31, 2012. Total revenues for English-language FM and AM stations across Canada were up 0.5 per cent in 2012, while for French stations they fell 0.55 per cent. Ethnic stations outperformed their English and French counterparts, with revenues rising 2.6 per cent, the CRTC data showed. The introduction of 11 new FM stations brought the national station total to 546, while the number of AM stations fell by five to 129. While FM stations’ revenues rose slightly, from $1.3 billion in 2011 to $1.31 billion, AM stations' revenues fell from $311 million to $306 million, the CRTC said, adding that some stations converted to the FM band. Revenues for English FM stations rose 0.66 per cent, while their French counterparts’ revenues rose 1.7 per cent and for ethnic media1.9 per cent, the data showed. English AM stations’ revenues held steady, falling 0.02 per cent, though French stations’ revenues dropped almost 48 per cent. In Montreal, French-language AM revenues were down almost 58 per cent from 2011. French-language station CJMS 1040 AM “failed to provide the annual return information in accordance with the Broadcast Regulations up to the date of compilation of this report,” the CRTC said. Also Wednesday, the CRTC said it approved an application for a new commercial French-language AM radio station in Montreal, operating at 850 kHz. “The new station would offer a sports talk format targeting men between the ages of 25 and 54. The applicant proposed to broadcast at least 126 hours of local programming each broadcast week, including 4 hours devoted to newscasts,” the CRTC said in its decision. The CRTC data on Canadian commercial radio stations also showed CBC/Radio-Canada lost money in both the AM and FM bands, with AM revenues dropping 8.7 per cent and FM falling 1.6 per cent between the 2011 and 2012 broadcast years. CBC’s biggest drop in revenue was in the British Columbia and territories markets, where revenues fell almost 11 per cent. The CRTC will launch a review of its commercial radio policy this fall, the release said. —With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Simon Doyle at sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

Commercial radio revenue growth slows to 0.4%

Broadcast | June 20, 2013

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Commercial radio revenue growth slows to 0.4%

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