MUMBAI: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has released its annual report indicating that the revenues and profits for Canada's specialty and pay TV services have climbed steadily over the last five years.
The reports signifies that on an average, from 2001 to 2005, revenues for these services increased by 10 per cent per year, and their earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), by 19.4 per cent.
EBIT for specialty, pay and pay-per view services rose even more significantly over the last year, posting an increase of 31.5 per cent. They climbed from $418.2 million in 2004 to $549.9 million in 2005. Also, revenues reached almost $2.2 billion in 2005, an increase of 6.3 per cent over the previous year, due in part to increases in the number of subscribers and reporting units.
More specifically, in 2005, revenues from cable distribution services grew by 4.7 per cent over 2004 from $886.9 to $928.4 million. Those for direct-to-home satellite distribution services (DTH) increased by 6.2 per cent, reaching $460.7 million in 2005, compared with $433.9 million in 2004. National advertising revenues rose by 8.7%, increasing from $691.5 million to $751.3 million.
This year, the report includes a new component: it details programming and production spendings by type of program, as provided to the CRTC by most Canadian specialty services. It shows that, for Canadian programming, services spent $162.5 million on drama, $128.4 million on news, $206 million on other information programming, $116.9 million on sports, $38.3 million on musical and variety shows and $45 million on general interest programs.
This report was produced using the financial statements of Canadian specialty, pay and pay-per-view services. It is one of a series of reports that the CRTC publishes annually in order to inform those interested in the state of the Canadian broadcasting industry.
The CRTC is an independent, public authority which was established to sustain and promote Canadian culture and achieve key social and economic objectives by regulating and supervising Canadian broadcasting and telecommunications in the public interest.
