Annual report on Canadian broadcasting
The broadcasting industry is continuing to expand and new media are increasingly important to Canadians’ lives, said the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in its annual broadcasting report. Here are the report’s findings:
The broadcasting industry is continuing to expand and new media are
increasingly important to Canadians’ lives, said the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in its annual
broadcasting report.
Findings from the CRTC’s news release:
Radio
– In 2006, Canadians were able to enjoy 1,252 different radio services,
compared with 1,223 stations in 2005, including 929 English-language
services, 286 French-language services, and 37 third-language services.
– On average, Canadians listened to 18.6 hours of radio per week in
2006, which is a little less than in 2005, when they listened to 19.1
hours. Private commercial radio stations captured slightly more than
80% of total radio tuning; the CBC, 11.6%, satellite radio, 1%, and the
Internet, 0.3%.
– Revenues for private commercial stations
totalled $1.4 billion in 2006, which is an increase of 5.7%, or $75.9
million, over the previous year.
– In 2006, Canadian radio stations paid $23.9 million for the development of Canadian content.
Television
– Canadians have access to 662 television services, including 445
English-language services, 104 French-language services, and
113 third-language services.
– In 2006, Canadians watched on average 27.6 hours of television per week, slightly under the 28.1 hours in 2005.
– Canadian television services captured 78.7% of total viewership in 2006.
– Revenues for conventional television reached $2.6 billion in 2006, an
increase over the $2.5 billion in 2005, and revenues for specialty, pay
and pay-per-view television and video-on-demand services totalled $2.5
billion in 2006, compared with $2.2 billion in 2005. As for digital
television services, revenues still represent only 5% of the television
sector’s revenues, coming in at $248 million.
– Private
conventional broadcasters spent $623.7 million on Canadian programming
in 2006, which was slightly higher than the $587 million spent in 2005,
and expenses for pay and specialty television services totalled $890.5
million in 2006, compared with $724.7 million in 2005.
Broadcasting distribution
– In 2006, 7.4 million Canadians subscribed to cable services, compared
with 6.8 million in 2005, and 2.6 million Canadians subscribed to
direct-to-home (DTH) satellite distribution and multipoint distribution
systems (MDS), while the number of subscribers totalled 2.5 million in
2005.
– The Canadian broadcasting distribution industry posted revenues of $7.7 billion in 2006.
– From 2005 to 2006, subscriptions to digital services rose by 10%, from 5.3 to 5.8 million.
New media
– 70% of Canadian households subscribed to the Internet in 2006, which
is 6% more than in 2005. The percentage of Canadian households with
high speed Internet subscriptions also continued to increase, from 51%
in 2005 to 60% in 2006.
– 22% of Canadians listened to radio over the Internet in 2006 and 6% watched television.
– In 2006, 58% of Canadians used a cellphone to access the Internet,
14% an MP3 player, 9% a Webcam, 7% an iPod, 5% a personal digital
assistant (PDA), and finally, 4% used a BlackBerry.
– Advertising on the Internet totalled $1 billion in 2006, almost double from the $562 million in 2005.
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