Shrinking ad market squeezing TV broadcasters, CRTC data shows

Statistics presented by the CRTC on Monday showed Canada's over-the-air TV broadcasters are facing an increasingly tight advertising market. The CRTC's data for private broadcasters, which earn the majority of their revenues through advertising, showed national ad revenue was down 7.8 per cent to $1.18 billion for the year ended Aug. 31, 2014, while local ad sales fell 5 per cent to $333.5 million. This marked the third straight-year of declines in both these categories, which were down 5.3 and 1 per cent, respectively, a year earlier. Figures for CBC/Radio-Canada, on the other hand, showed its conventional-TV advertising revenue surged 43.3 per cent to $474.6 million, though the CRTC said in a press release this was largely due to sports programming, such as the 2014 Winter Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and NHL hockey. None of these sources are recurring, given that the Winter Olympics and World Cup happen every four years, and in the hockey season that began following the period measured in the report, all national NHL broadcast rights, including associated advertising revenue, was taken over by Rogers Communications Inc. A year earlier, CBC saw a decline of 11.2 per cent in advertising revenue, CRTC figures showed. CBC spokeswoman France Bélisle said the 12-month period measured in the report was "exceptional." "The advertising market fluctuates and the impact on revenues is more noticeable with major events taking place one year and not the next, such as the Olympics and FIFA World Cup," she said in an email. Overall revenue for private over-the-air TV broadcasters was down 7.2 per cent for the 12 months ended last August to $1.8 billion. Stations also saw revenue sources other than advertising fall, experiencing a 45.5 per cent reduction, to $21.7 million, in money from the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF). The CRTC was phasing out the program during that time, ending it completely as of last August. Private broadcasters saw a 1.8 per cent increase in syndication-production revenue to $16.3 million, somewhat offsetting what's been an average 3.1 per cent decline in this area over the last four years. Expenses for private conventional TV stations were down 2.6 per cent to $1.85 billion, and private over-the-air TV broadcasters had a loss of $138.7 million before taxes and interest, deepening from a deficit of $2.3 million a year earlier. The CRTC said in its press release that private broadcasters increased their spending on Canadian programming by 2.3 per cent to $619.3 million during the year. More than half of that, or $361.1 million, was spent on news, while $84.7 million was spent on human-interest programming, $60.4 million on dramas, $29.3 million on "other information programs," $25.5 million on reality TV, $22.3 million on music and variety, $19 million on game shows, $6.3 million on long-form documentaries, $5.3 million on feature films, $3.7 million on awards shows, $1.1 million on sports and about $500,000 on all other types of programming. CRTC figures showed private Canadian conventional-TV broadcasters spent $21.1 million on sports programming from outside Canada and more than $550 million on non-Canadian dramas last year. The CRTC said in its press release that CBC's overall program spending was $810.8 million and 97 per cent of that spent on Canadian programming. When it reported the 2013 results, the CRTC said CBC spent $724.6 million on programming overall, with a similar proportion spent on Canadian content. "Canadian programming is at the heart of CBC/Radio-Canada's mandate," Bélisle said when asked about what the general trend for Canadian program spending will be going forward. CBC's spending on Canadian programming last year included $258 million for sports, $207.3 million for news, $123.9 million for dramas, $62.8 million for other informational programming, $49.5 million on human interest, $27.3 million on music and variety, $22.3 million for long-form documentaries, $13 million for films, $9.3 million for game shows, $7.7 million for awards shows, $7.5 million for reality TV and $1 million for other types of programming. Overall revenue for CBC conventional television was up 6.5 per cent to $1.33 billion, the CRTC said. That took into account advertising, a 25.9 per cent jump in syndication-production revenue to $67.7 million, a 49.6 per cent reduction in LPIF funding to $17.6 million and a 7.3 per cent decline in parliamentary appropriations to $726 million. Conventional-TV expenses for the CBC were up 7.1 per cent to $1.25 billion and its loss before interest and taxes was $23.7 million, down from a loss of $27.9 million a year earlier. — With reporting by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Shrinking ad market squeezing TV broadcasters, CRTC data shows

Broadcast | May 4, 2015

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