Broadcast revenue bleeding got worse in 2017: CRTC

According to the latest data from the CRTC, the Canadian broadcasting and broadcast distribution industry’s loss of revenue continues to accelerate, mostly due to ongoing “significant” declines in TV provider revenue in the broadcast year ending Aug. 31, 2017. The regulator measured a year-over-year decrease of $202 million, or a drop of 2.3 per cent for TV providers, compared to a 2.1 per cent decline in the previous broadcast year. Overall, broadcast distributors made $8.5 billion in revenue, down from $8.7 billion in 2016's broadcast year. In the same vein, providers contributed just over $411 million to producing Canadian content, a decline from $428 million in 2016. The TV and radio broadcast sector revenues also decreased, making for a total industry revenue that was $17.2 billion in 2017 for radio and TV broadcasting and TV providers combined, compared to $17.85 billion in 2016. That made for a 3.3 per cent decrease in 2017, compared to the 0.53 per cent drop reported in 2016, making this the third consecutive year of negative growth. That drop was “amplified” by CBC/Radio-Canada no longer including digital activity in its conventional TV revenue reports. That would have accounted for roughly $240 million in extra revenue in the 2017 measurements if it had been included, the CRTC said. However, even with that revenue added in, the revenue drop for the total industry would have been close to two per cent. Cable and satellite service revenue growth stayed negative, down 4.7 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively. IPTV services, on the other hand, did manage to see some growth, adding 130,000 subscriptions in 2017 and increasing revenues from $1.8 billion in 2016 to $2 billion, according to the report. As of last year, IPTV had 2.6 million subscribers. Overall in 2017, television distributors had 10.2 million direct subscribers, down from 10.4 million, or 1.9 per cent, from 2016. The CRTC’s data revealed that conventional private TV station revenue was still declining, but to a smaller degree than last year. In the sixth consecutive year of station revenue decline, the CRTC reported that total private over-the-air (OTA) revenues were at $1.6 billion, a reduction from 2016’s $1.68 billion. The overall TV broadcasting sector brought in $1.6 billion from private stations and $944 million of CBC revenue for a total of $2.55 billion. Contributing to the loss in conventional TV station revenue was a drop in local and national advertising spending at private TV stations. National ad spending came in just over $1 billion, with a 3.2 per cent decline from 2016. Local ad spend was $292 million, an even more steep seven per cent drop from the previous year. CBC television was able to collect $35.1 million in local advertising, and $148.6 million in national advertising. Most of the national broadcaster’s television revenue, though, came from $647 million in parliamentary appropriation funds. The report also indicated that Canadian programming expenditures at private conventional TV stations (CPE) dropped for another year. CPE came down 2.3 per cent to be $618 million in 2017. Discretionary and on-demand private sector CPE spending reversed a four-year trend of growth, with total revenues dropping 1.04 per cent. Commercial radio mirrored the shrinking revenue values from the TV business, according to the CRTC, posting a 1.9 per cent decline from 2016. This is the fourth year in a row where radio revenue continued to fall from the over 700 stations across Canada. Total revenue in the radio industry was $1.52 million in 2017 versus $1.55 million in 2016. A 3.2 per cent drop occurred in local radio advertising revenue, but due to national advertising “becoming more widespread among larger broadcasters as it helps them achieve some cost-saving synergies,” said the report, national ad revenue grew 0.4 per cent in 2017. Clarification: Story updated to reflect these numbers were for the broadcast year ending August 31, 2017. — With reporting by Bryson Masse at bmasse@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Broadcast revenue bleeding got worse in 2017: CRTC

Broadcast | July 9, 2018

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Broadcast revenue bleeding got worse in 2017: CRTC

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