Canada Radio Revenues Up 4%; Jobs Up 4.7%

Yesterday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) released statistical and financial information on the 669 commercial radio stations operating in Canada.  

Revenues, according for the report from Ottawa, for the broadcast year ended August 31, 2011, increased by approximately 4% over the previous year, demonstrating steady growth and continued confidence in an industry whose revenues are now back to pre-recession levels.

While total revenues for AM and FM stations increased from $1.55 billion in 2010 to $1.6 billion in 2011, expenses also rose from $1.21 billion to $1.26 billion during the same period. As a result, profits before interest and taxes (PBIT) climbed from $298.3 million to $311 million, and the PBIT margin went from 19.2% to 19.3%. 

In 2011, commercial radio stations employed 10,576 people and paid a total of $676.3 million in salaries, an increase of 4.7% from last year when they employed 10,104 people and paid $640.7 million in salaries.

I have worked both sides of the 49th parallel for the better part of three decades and can report to A&O's American clients that no one studies what happens in the USA more carefully than Canadians do, whole most of us are oblivious to Canadian economy and politics.

There are few decisions in A&O's business history as good as having decided to work in Canada.

Like Earl Pitts has always said:  "Wake Up America." 

It's time for U.S. radio companies to look carefully at what Canadian radio has been doing.