TV revenue up, but big money is in cable, satellite

Conventional TV broadcasters saw their revenues rise in 2006, but the biggest earners in broadcasting continue to be the cable and satellitedistributors, according to a review of the broadcasting industry issued Tuesday.

Broadcastersearned revenue of $2.6 billion in 2006, afour per cent increase from 2005,according to the reportby the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission.

Thecable and satellite industry posted revenues of $7.7 billion in 2006, up 25 per centfrom $6.1 billion in 2005,and subscriptions continue to grow.

The number of Canadians getting cable rose by 1.2 million households, for a total of 7.4 million households, and satellite subscription rose by 100,000, for a total of 2.6 million households.

Specialty, pay TV and video-on-demand services alone earned $2.5 billion almost as much as broadcasters a 14 per cent increase over the previous year.

Cable and pay TV operators such as Shaw Communications and Vidotron have been adamant about not wanting to support the Canadian Television Fund, the pool of money that supports creation of Canadian programming.

Last month, the CRTC turned down a request by the cable firms to kill the CTF and recommended they continue to support the fund with regular fees.In a sop to the industry, italso called for ratings be taken into account in determining which projects to support.

However, Jim Shaw, chief executive of Shaw Communications, said earlier this month that the fund is "unfixable."

Private conventional broadcasters spent $623.7 million on Canadian programming in 2006, up from $587 million in 2005.

The CTF provides about $200 million of funding to independent producers.

The number of TV services in Canada is expanding, with 445 English-language services, 104 French-language services, and 113 third-language services now available.

Radio, which has seen some industry consolidation this year, with Astral buying Standard and CTVGlobeMedia buying CHUM, also showed healthy finances, with revenues in private radio totalling $1.4 billion in 2006, an increase of 5.7 per cent.

Canadians had access to 1,252 different radio services, compared with 1,223 stations in 2005, but the average amount of radio they listen to is falling, to an average of 18.6 hours a week, down from 19.1.

The CRTC report also showed thecontinuing attractionof new media for Canadians, with 70 per cent of households subscribing to the internet and 60 per cent of subscribers opting for high-speed service.