Canada: Broadcasting commission issues annual report

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has issued its annual report highlighting the status of television, radio, broadcasting distribution, (including cable television and satellite) in Canada. The following is a bulletted summary of the report, published as a press release by the CRTC's website on 18 December. Subheadings as published, all currencies are Candian dollars (1 CAD = approximately 0.75 US dollars)

Television

- There are 631 English language, French language, Aboriginal and ethnic television stations in Canada. These include 23 CBC/SRC stations, 17 private CBC/SRC affiliates, 91 Canadian private commercial stations, 105 Canadian specialty services, 20 Canadian pay and pay-per-view services, as well as 93 foreign satellite services.

- Viewing by English language viewers to Canadian drama and comedy programs remained at only 11 percent, as in the previous two years, foreign drama and comedy programs accounting for the remaining 89 percent of viewing. In contrast, the viewing share for Canadian drama and comedy programs by French language viewers increased from 43 percent in 2000 to 46 percent in 2001, 48 percent in 2002.

- In 2002, Canadian programs garnered 76 percent of the total viewership to French-language programs and 32 percent of the total viewership to English-language programs.

- Revenues for conventional English-language private television fell slightly (1.7 percent) from 2001 to 2002. At the same time, revenues for English-language specialty, pay and pay-per-view services increased by 10.8 percent. Revenues for English-language digital specialty services totalled $48.7 million in 2002. From 2001 to 2002, revenues for conventional French-language television increased by 3.3 percent, while those for French-language specialty, pay, and pay-per-view television increased by 10.7 percent.

Radio

- Canadian radio services comprise 99 CBC/SRC stations, 608 commercial AM, FM and digital stations, and 131 community and campus stations.

- Revenues for English language AM and FM stations increased by 2.7 percent, while those for French language stations grew by 5.3 percent from 2001 to 2002.

- Since the coming into force of the CRTC's commercial radio policy in 1998, Canadian radio stations have made commitments totalling close to $120 million in support of Canadian talent.

- In August 2003, the Commission awarded 56 licences for transitional digital radio stations in the Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Windsor markets.

Broadcasting Distribution Undertakings (BDUs)

- Competition for cable services comes mainly from Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite distribution undertakings and multipoint distribution systems (MDS). These competitors have reduced the share of the large cable undertakings (Class

1) from 80.5 percent in 1999 to 72.4 percent in 2002.

- Approximately 82 percent of Canadian households receive basic service from a BDU.

- Subscriptions to DTH services totalled 1,959,677 and their share of the market reached 21.2 percent in 2002. Subscriptions rose by nearly 440,000or 29 percentfrom 2001 to 2002. This growth was derived from former cable subscribers and new subscribers in areas without cable access.

- The number of subscribers to digital services (including cable TV and DTH) increased from 3,050,518 to 3,594,691 between June 2002 and June 2003.

- By the end of November 2003, the rates of 4.7 million, or 70%, of the subscribers of the large cable undertakings (Class 1) had been deregulated.

Internet

- 64 percent of Canadian households owned a computer in 2003.

- In March of 2003, 68 percent of Canadians had access to the Internet from home, work, school or some other location. 12 percent of Canadians had wireless Internet access.

- In 2003, for the first time, there were as many subscribers to high speed Internet as to dial-up Internet.

Passage omitted on CRTC background

© BBC