Radio Broadcasting

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The statistics presented in this publication are for the fiscal year ending August 31 and cover the period from 2006 to 2010. The text below includes references to earlier periods when it is useful to put the industry's recent performance in a historical context. The following analysis concerns commercial radio. A commercial station is one where advertising revenue ¹  represents more than half of total revenue. Stations that do not meet this criterion are classified as "public and non-commercial". This segment's operating results are presented in a separate table.

Operating revenues up following a year of decline

The operating revenues of the private radio broadcasting sector reached $1.6 billion (current dollars) in 2010, up 3.2% from 2009. Of those revenues, 97.6% were from advertising. The year 2009 had been marked by the first year-over-year drop in revenues since 1993. Even with the gains recorded in 2010, revenues have yet to surpass the level registered in 2008, before the general economic downturn.

The recovery experienced by private radio broadcasters was also seen in their profit margin before interest and taxes, which rose to 19.1% in 2010, compared to 17.9% in 2009. Private radio broadcasters have consistently reported a profit margin before interest and taxes in excess of 15% since the late 1990s.

Ontario radio broadcasters the most profitable

Radio broadcasters' performance varied from one region to another in 2010. For a second consecutive year, Ontario radio broadcasters were the most profitable, with 22.9 cents of profit before interest and taxes per dollar of revenue. The region with the lowest profit margin was Saskatchewan, with 11 cents of profit before interest and taxes per dollar of revenue. However, the profit margin before interest and taxes has been rising in Saskatchewan for two years, as it has been in Quebec and Manitoba. For the first time since 1976, the profit margin exceeded 10% in all regions of Canada.

Strongest growth of operating revenues in medium and small markets ² 

The profit margin before interest and taxes for stations in large markets reached 24.8% in 2010.The profit margin before interest and taxes for stations in medium markets and small markets were 15.5% and 13.7% respectively. In contrast, the growth of operating revenues was stronger in medium (+4.7%) and small markets (+4.5%) than in large markets (+1.5%).

AM radio revenues and benefits up in a context of rationalization

Operating revenues rose 1.3% in 2010 for stations broadcasting on the AM band, while the number of stations declined by four during the year to reach 147 stations. AM stations registered their best return in the past 20 years with a 10% profit margin before interest and taxes. FM stations also increased their operating revenues (3.7%) in 2010, while the number of stations rose and totalled up to 528 stations. The profit margin before interest and taxes of FM stations rose from 20.7% in 2009 to 21.4% in 2010. However, this margin is lower than the one recorded in 2008 (24.5%).

Sustained growth of Francophone radio

For a second consecutive year, Francophone radio stations recorded stronger growth in their operating revenues (+ 6.0%) than Anglophone stations (+ 2.6%) and ethnic stations (+4.5%) in 2010.