Highlights

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1. In 2008, private radio broadcasters earned profits before interest and taxes of 21.1 cents per dollar of revenue. This performance is the second best over the past 30 years.
2. FM radio advertising revenues exceeded $1.2 billion, which was 7.6% higher than the previous year. FM radio generated more than 79% of the industry’s advertising revenues in 2008, compared to 65% ten years earlier.
3. In 2008, there were 159 AM stations, 15 less than in 2007. This was the largest drop since 2001, and proof that the AM radio rationalization that started in the early 1990s continues.
4. AM radio made profits before interest and taxes of $26.7 million in 2008, up 63.7% compared to 2007. The profit margin before interest and taxes of 8.1% for all stations was the best in several years even though it is only a fraction of the 24.5% that was achieved by FM radio.
5. Radio stations in Toronto earned 30.0 cents in profits before interest and taxes per dollar of revenue in 2008. Toronto replaced Calgary (25.8) at the top of the list of most profitable large radio markets, a position Calgary held since 1998.
6. The performance of radio broadcasters varied considerably from one region to another in 2008. Air time sales increased at a rate higher than the national average of 5.9% in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, and at a rate lower than the national average in the other provinces. Alberta showed the strongest growth and has done so for four consecutive years.