The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission today released the statistical and financial summaries for Canada’s private commercial radio stations. The report provides information on the sector’s revenues and expenditures for the broadcast year ending August 31, 2024.
Canada’s AM and FM radio stations generated $1.58 billion in revenues, representing an increase of just over 5%, or $78 million above 2024 figures. Expenses rose by 3.6 % to $1.24 billion in 2024, meaning that total profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) for Canada’s radio stations were $335 million compared to $299 million the previous year. Total revenues have increased by an annual average of 6.5% over the last five years.
The increase is attributed to higher advertising revenues for Canada’s commercial radio industry. Between 2024 and 2024, local advertising revenues increased from $1.09 billion to $1.14 billion while revenue from national advertising sales increased from $379 million to $406 million.
FM radio
For the year ending August 31, 2024, Canada’s 474 FM radio stations generated over $1.25 billion in total revenues. Over the past five years, average revenues for FM stations have increased by approximately 8%.
Revenues for English-language FM stations were in excess of $1 billion while their French-language counterparts generated $219 million in revenues. Ethnic FM stations increased their revenues by over 4% for a total of $16.8 million.
AM radio
With 18 fewer AM stations in 2024, there was a decrease in total revenues.
In 2024, Canada’s 172 AM radio stations generated $329.6 million in total revenue compared to $329 million by the 154 AM stations in 2024. This represents a 0.2% decrease from the previous year.
Revenues from Canada’s 136 English-language AM radio stations have continued to climb. During the past five years, they experienced an average 3.3 % growth in total revenues, totalling $295 million in 2024. In contrast, revenues for the nine French-language AM stations went from
$16.2 million in 2024 to $12.4 million in 2024
– a 24% decrease from the previous year.
Canada’s nine ethnic AM stations also experienced a decline in total revenues. Their total revenues were down 1.85% from $21.8 million in 2024 to $21.4 million in 2024.
Employment
As of August 31, 2024, Canada’s private commercial radio industry employed
10,347 people and had paid $635.4 million in total salaries for the fiscal year.
The data contained in this report were drawn from the annual financial returns of private commercial radio stations and cover the period of September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2024. The report therefore does not reflect the subsequent worldwide economic downturn and the accompanying decline in advertising revenues.
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