Annual highlights of the broadcasting sector 2022-2023

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• Highlights of the broadcasting sector for the 2022-2023 broadcasting year
• Section 1: Traditional commercial and DMBU broadcasting sector revenues
• Section 2: Contributions to Canadian content and programming
• Section 3: Spotlight on OLMC
• Section 4: Consumers and diversity
• Section 5: Listening and viewing of broadcasting services
• Section 6: Methodology
  • CRTC data collection
  • Media technology monitor (MTM)
  • Omdia (Formerly Ovum)
  • Numeris
• Definitions

Link directly to Highlights of the Broadcasting Sector for the 2022-2023 Broadcasting Year Highlights of the Broadcasting Sector for the 2022-2023 Broadcasting Year

In the 2023 broadcast year (ending August 31st, 2023) Radio, Discretionary TV, and Broadcast Distribution Undertakings (BDUs) remained profitable, while Digital Media Broadcasting Undertakings (DMBU) continued to grow their revenue shares. Conventional television continued to operate at a loss in 2023. In total, broadcasting revenues^{Footnote 1} decreased by 0.37% from the 2022 to the 2023 broadcast year.

• Commercial Radio (-0.55%), Commercial Conventional TV (-7.16%), Discretionary TV (-6.31%), and BDU (-5.37%) reported revenue decreases compared to 2022.
• DMBU (14.08%) reported an increase in revenues and continued to increase their share of total broadcasting revenues. This trend is consistent with the Media Technology Monitor (MTM) Fall 2023 Adoption report that shows that Canadians have been increasing their use of DMBU services. In 2023, 26% of Anglophones and 15% of Francophones aged 18+ watched audiovisual content exclusively online.

Additional data from the 2023 Broadcast year is available in the Communications Market Reports – Open Data and the Financial Summaries for Broadcasting Sector web pages.

Link directly to Section 1: Traditional commercial and DMBU broadcasting sector revenues Section 1: Traditional commercial and DMBU broadcasting sector revenues

In Broadcast year 2023, most of the commercial sector revenue was reported by BDU (35.2%), DMBU (25.9%), and Discretionary television (19.4%). Chart 2 below shows the revenue per sector from 2019 to 2023. All graphs are interactive. Please click the legend to exclude values from the graph.

Radio

Revenue generated by English stations accounts for 77.9% of the total commercial radio revenue share. The French (17.9%) and Ethnic (4.1%) account for a smaller portion of the total commercial radio market. As shown in Table 1, local advertisement comprises 66.7% of the total commercial radio revenue. For the second year in a row, local advertisement continued to recover in the radio sector (3.14% increase in revenue). English commercial stations reported the largest year over year increase in local advertisement (3.35%), followed by French stations (2.62%), and Ethnic stations (1.75%). National advertisement comprises 29.5% of the total commercial radio revenue. Commercial radio stations reported a year over year decrease of 7.95% in in national advertising.

Television

As shown in Table 2, Commercial conventional and discretionary television services reported a decrease in revenue compared to the 2022 broadcast year. Advertising accounts for 92.2% of the commercial conventional television revenue. Most of the advertising revenue is generated through national advertising (72.23%). CRTC data suggests that national advertising revenue is decreasing at a faster rate for English services than French services, whereas only local advertising for English services reported an increase. Discretionary television generates revenue from multiple sources. Subscribers (66.92%) and advertising (31.2%) account for the majority of the discretionary television revenue. Subscriber revenue has reported a decrease of 4.20%. Advertising revenue has also decreased by 11.38%.

BDU

Over the past year, BDU subscribers decreased 2.54% and revenue decreased 5.45%. Cable and IPTV services gross a larger share of the total BDU revenue (81.2%) than DTH (18.8%). Since the 2022 broadcast year, Cable and IPTV subscribers fell by 0.76%, whereas DTH decreased by 13.41%. Yet, data from the CRTC annual returns suggests that DTH services are more profitable with an operating income of $403 million, compared the $87 million operating income of Cable and IPTV services. The decrease in the BDU sector revenue is mostly in line with historical trends (-2.96% compound annual growth rate [CAGR] in revenue since 2015) and what it set out in the 2018 report: Harnessing Change: The Future of Programming Distribution in Canada.

DMBU

Aggregated data collected in response to the Annual Digital Media Survey^{Footnote 2Footnote 3}, is included in this CMR for DMBU revenues starting in 2021, whereas previous years use data estimates collected by OMDIA.

• DMBU audio service revenues decreased by 2.28% year over year. However, long term growth of DMBU audio services continued to increase (CAGR of 30.6% since 2019).
• DMBU audiovisual service revenues increased by 19.05% year over year. Similar to DMBU audio services, DMBU audiovisual services long term growth continued to increase (CAGR of 16.8% since 2019).

Profitability

During the 2023 Broadcast Year, Profit Before Interest and Taxes (PBIT) margin stayed positive for Commercial Radio (4.6%), Commercial Discretionary TV (12.1%), and BDU reported an operating margin of 7%. Commercial Traditional Television sector reported a PBIT margin of -30.5%.

• In the 2023 broadcast year, all commercial sectors of traditional broadcasting reported a year over year decrease in PBIT. Radio PBIT margin is down 0.9 percentage points; Conventional TV PBIT margin is down 12.8 percentage points; Discretionary TV PBIT margin is down 7.6 percentage points; and BDU operating margin is down 4.1 percentage points.
• Most sectors reported an increase in their operating costs: 0.1% by radio, 3.05% by conventional TV, and 2.57% by discretionary TV. BDUs were the only sector to reduce their operating costs by 0.81%.
• For the radio sector, decreases in PBIT have been reported for French and Ethnic stations, while English Radio stations have reported a modest increase of 0.1 percentage points. For Conventional and Discretionary television sectors, decreases in PBIT have been reported for English and French services across Canada. Ethnic Discretionary Television services reported a 0.9 percentage point PBIT margin increase.
• Larger commercial radio stations (those owned by companies that file aggregate returns) were more profitable in 2023 (8.7%) than smaller radio stations (0.3%). Conversely, Conventional television stations owned by smaller commercial broadcasters (those not owned by companies that file aggregate returns) were more profitable in 2023 (2%) than their larger counterparts (-34.3%). Smaller discretionary services (13.5%) were slightly more profitable than larger discretionary services (11.9%).

Link directly to Section 2: Contributions to Canadian content and programming Section 2: Contributions to Canadian content and programming

In the 2023 broadcast year, contributions to Canadian content increased by 0.7% compared to 2022. Radio contributions (Canadian Content Development [CCD]) increased by 28.1%. Television contributions (Canadian programming expenditures [CPE]) increased by 1%. BDUs contributions (Canadian programming) decreased by 4.1%. The increase in Radio CCD and Television CPE may be due to Broadcasting Decision 2021-274, which stipulates that radio and television sectors pay the required contribution shortfalls, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no later than 31st August, 2023. Television licensees of independent services must pay their shortfalls no later than 31st August, 2024.

• Combining all required contribution types, the Canadian broadcasting industry contributions to Canadian content are up 12% compared to 2013.
  • While the radio sector had the most significant decline in contributions (17.6%) since 2013, they reported the largest year over year increase in contributions to Canadian content and programming in 2023.
  • The combined conventional and discretionary television sectors CPE have increased steadily over the past 10 years by a CAGR of 1.8%, and have increased 19.2% compared to 2013. Since 2019, expenditures on programs of national interest (PNI), a sub-component of the CPE, have declined at a CAGR of 1.2%.
  • The BDU sector contributions have steadily declined (CAGR of 2.7%) since 2013. This decrease is in line with BDU revenue and subscribership declines.
• News expenditures by conventional and discretionary stations decreased by 6.31% (or $50.4M) compared to 2022. This amount includes contributions to locally reflective news programming that conventional television stations receive from BDUs, which has averaged $44.6M since its inception in 2018.^{Footnote 4}
• According to the Profile 2023 economic report, foreign investment is fueling television production growth. Total film and television production in Canada was $12.19 billion in 2023, up 4% since 2022. Foreign production accounts for 56% or $6.86 billion of the total film and television production in Canada. Of the $6.86 billion, $5.12 billion was invested into television productions, with 74% of foreign production projects originating in the United States.

Link directly to Section 3: Spotlight on OLMC Section 3: Spotlight on OLMC

Official languages and official language minority communities (OLMC) are the English and French linguistic minority communities in Canada and can be interpreted as English language communities in Quebec and French language communities outside of Quebec.

As an incentive for broadcasters to invest in OLMC productions, broadcasters can receive a 25% credit against their CPE requirements for expenditures on Canadian programming produced by OLMC producers, as per Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2017-148. Chart 7 is the expenditures per year for OLMC productions in television.

In their reporting for CPE OLMC productions, licensees do not report on the language of individual productions. Language breakdowns below are based on the licensee’s broadcast language.

Over the past 6 years, the average yearly expenditure for English productions in Quebec has been $22.38 million. In 2023, English productions accounted for 62.3% of the total OLMC production expenditures. Over the same period, the average yearly expenditures for French productions outside of Quebec was $7.83 million. CRTC data suggests that OLMC productions accounted for 1.73% of the total commercial CPE expenditures. The increase in total OLMC expenditures in 2023 is due, in part, to CBC beginning to report their OLMC expenditures.

Broadcasters are only eligible to claim this credit if it is stipulated in their broadcasting license. While most broadcasters are eligible to claim it, broadcasters whose mandate is to provide OLMC related content are not eligible. Over the past six years, roughly 79.4% of the total OLMC production expenditures were eligible for the OLMC production credit.

There were 13 total French commercial radio stations operating outside of Quebec in 2023. These stations generated a total of $13.8 million in revenue and reported $12.1 million in total expenses. In contrast, there were 10 English & Bilingual commercial radio stations operating in Quebec. English stations in Quebec generated $25.5 million in revenue and reported $18.9 million in total expenses.

Link directly to Section 4: Consumers and diversity Section 4: Consumers and diversity

Consumers

Canadians are shifting their subscription spending habits away from BDU subscriptions and are steadily increasing their spending on DMBU subscriptions. CRTC data collection suggests that the estimated monthly expenditures per household on BDU services have gone down from $38.37 in 2019 to $31.42 in 2023, whereas DMBU expenditures have increased from $20.39 in 2019 to $31.32 in 2023^{Footnote 5Footnote 6}. Estimated household monthly expenditures on subscriptions to BDU services continues to decline (6% decrease since 2022 and a decrease by a CAGR of 4.9% since 2019). In contrast, estimated household monthly expenditures on subscriptions to audio and audiovisual DMBU services continue to increase (13.3% increase since 2022 and CAGR of 11.3% since 2019). While monthly expenditures on BDU services are decreasing per household, Canadian household monthly expenditures on BDU services still marginally outpaces expenditures on DMBU services, with households spending an estimated 0.34% more on BDU than DMBU services in 2023.

Overall, BDU penetration has been on the decline for cable and satellite services. Data from MTM suggests that, over the past 5 years, penetration of cable services has decreased from 36% to 20% and penetration of Direct-to-Home (DTH) services has decreased from 15% to 9%. Penetration of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services has grown from 20% in 2019 to 35% in 2023.

When examining BDU subscriber data by price bucket, CRTC annual survey data suggests that all price buckets, other than the 100$+ bucket, reported a decreased in subscribers during the 2023 broadcast year. While subscribers in the $25 or less price range increased in 2022, subscribers to this price bucket dropped 10% in 2023. Instead, the number of subscribers to the highest tier price bucket increased for the first time in three years.

• Despite a year over year decline of 5.7%, more Canadians (4.249 million) subscribe to BDUs at the $50.01-$100 price range, than any other price option. 88.79% of subscribers at this price range have a Cable & IPTV service.
• DTH subscribers are most likely to subscribe to services of $50 or more. The number of DTH subscribers in the more than $100 price range seems stable, whereas the number of subscribers to the $50-$100 price range has decreased 20.6% since the 2022 broadcast year.

News Content

Each year, MTM conducts a survey on the broadcasting consumption habits of Canadians 18+. In their survey, participants can self-identify as Anglophone, Francophone, Racialized, and/or Indigenous. Canadians 18+ is an aggregate of all demographics. This aggregate will be used as a baseline to compare consumption habits among different demographics of Canadians.

From 2013 to 2020, data from MTM suggests that Canadians have begun to consume more online news. Data from 2020 to 2023, however, suggests that this growth has plateaued.

• On average, all Canadians read more online news than they watch. Data suggests that Canadian Anglophones consume slightly more online news (both read and watch) than Francophones.
• All Canadians aged 18+ report consuming an increasing amount of news online, with Canadians aged 18-49 consuming the largest amount of online news. Canadians aged 65+ consume the smallest amount of online news.
• In 2023, Canadians, Racialized Canadians, and Indigenous peoples consumed similar levels of online news.

Despite this increase in online news consumption, some Canadians continue to use traditional news sources such as Television and Radio.

• Traditional sources are most likely to be used by Canadians aged 65+, and least likely to be used by Canadians 18-34. While TV has a sharper discrepancy between age groups, Radio is relatively stable between Canadians aged 35 to 65+.
• For comparison, data from MTM suggests that Canadians aged 18-64 are more likely to use a Canadian news organization website or app than traditional news sources. Canadians aged 65+ were more likely to use a TV Channel as a news source than a website or app; however, they were more likely to use a website and app than a radio station.

Diversity

Data from the MTM Fall 2023 survey suggests that Racialized Canadians (88%), Indigenous peoples (85%), and Anglophones (78%) are more likely to stream audio content than they are to listen to radio on a traditional receiver. Francophones were the only demographic to indicate that they were more likely to listen to radio over a traditional receiver (82%) than to stream audio (76%). The aggregated dataset suggests that streaming and traditional audio are consumed at similar rates in Canada. Over the past 5 years, MTM data suggests that a growing number of all Canadians are shifting towards the digital side of audio consumption.

For audiovisual services, the trend is similar. Indigenous peoples were more likely to subscribe to a subscription-based video-on-demand (SVOD) service (90%) than a paid traditional television service (55%). MTM data also suggest that Racialized Canadians were more likely to subscribe to an SVOD service (79%) than a paid traditional television service (50%). While Anglophones were more likely to stream audiovisual content (79%), 63% still indicated that they paid for traditional television services. Francophones were the only demographic to be more likely to subscribe to a paid traditional television service (76%) than an SVOD service (71%).

In their 2023 survey, MTM began asking consumers about their Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) habits. The survey asks participants about their habits using Tubi, Pluto TV, Roku Channels, and Samsung TV+. Their data suggests that Racialized Canadians (31%) and Indigenous peoples (28%) were the most likely to consume FAST content, while only 21% of the aggregated dataset indicated that they consumed FAST content.

While Canadians consume FAST content, they do not watch it for very long periods of time. Data from Numeris suggests that, while FAST channels are growing, they currently occupy a 0.26% share of the total viewing in the Ontario and Quebec Franco market, up from 0.1% last year.

Link directly to Section 5: Listening and viewing of broadcasting services Section 5: Listening and viewing of broadcasting services

Audio

While tuning to traditional broadcasting has decreased since 2015, traditional broadcasting services continues to occupy a major portion of Canadian listening habits. Average weekly hours listening spent listening DMBU audio services has, however, grown since 2015. During that time, hours spent listening to traditional broadcasting has decreased at a CAGR of 4.8%, whereas DMBU audio has increased at a CAGR of 9.3%. Compared to 2022, both tuning to traditional services (-1.8%) and digital DMBU audio services (-5.1%) have decreased. The tuning data for traditional broadcasting is collected by Numeris and the audio data for DMBU services is self-reported data collected by MTM. Given the different methodologies for data collection, this comparison may not accurately reflect the consumption habits between traditional tuning and DMBU audio.

MTM includes streaming music, podcasts, and AM/FM Radio in their DMBU audio survey.

• Over the past five years, Anglophone Canadians have increased their average hours per week of DMBU audio consumption from 8.2 in 2019 to 9.7 in 2023. Francophone Canadians have increased their average hours per week of online audio consumption from 7.2 in 2019 to 8.2 in 2023.
• Over the past year, however, MTM data suggests that Canadians have reduced the number of hours they spend streaming DMBU audio by 5.3% -- from 9.93 hours in 2022 to 9.4 hours in 2023. This year over year decrease was only seen among Anglophones who consumed 8.7% less DMBU audio compared to the previous year. Francophones increased their consumption of DMBU audio by 11.3%.
• Music streaming accounts for the largest portion of DMBU audio consumption for both Anglophones and Francophones. AM/FM streaming is consumed less, reportedly being 12.5% of the DMBU audio weekly listening hours for Anglophones and 19.4% for Francophones.

33% of Canadians aged 18+ indicated that they listened to a podcast in 2023. Podcasts seem more popular among Anglophone Canadians (36%) than they do among Francophone Canadians (23%). Podcasts are most popular among younger Canadians, with 47% of Canadians 18-34 years of age and 40% of Canadians 35-49 years of age having reported listening to a podcast in 2023. Time spent listening to podcasts has, however, decreased from 2.28 mean weekly hours in 2022 to 1.75 mean weekly hours in 2023.

Audiovisual

Video Audience Measurement (VAM) from Numeris is a new tool available to the Canadian broadcasting industry that can measure consumption of in-home video streaming on all devices. Currently, VAM only collects data in the Ontario market and the Quebec Francophone market. Because VAM only measures these two markets, it would be more appropriate to compare the digital streaming to traditional television consumed in Canada on a per user basis.

• During the 2023 broadcast year, consumption of Canadian traditional television services varied from between 15.3 to 19.8 average weekly hours per user. For DMBU audiovisual services in the Ontario and Quebec Franco market, consumption varied between 11.4 to 13.6 average weekly hours per user.
• MTM data suggests that Traditional television is most popular among Canadians aged 50+, whereas streaming is most popular among Canadians aged 18-49. In their survey, Francophones were more likely to have consumed traditional audiovisual content than Anglophones.
• Moreover, both streaming and traditional television remain popular in Canada. MTM reported that 66% of Canadians subscribe to a traditional television and 78% of Canadians subscribe to an SVOD service.

Since 2013, the number of hours spent watching traditional television services has decreased by a CAGR of 6.8% or a total of 27.8%. Similar to the findings in the 2022 CMR report, consumption of traditional television services in the Quebec Franco market are decreasing at a slower rate (-4.3%) than the rest of the market (-7.7%). Consumers outside of Quebec have decreased their viewership by a CAGR 3.64% since 2013, whereas consumers in Quebec reduced their viewing by a CAGR of 1.9% over that time.

Link directly to Section 6: Methodology Section 6: Methodology

Link directly to CRTC data collection CRTC data collection

The CRTC data collection has sourced its statistical and financial data from the annual returns provided by commercial and CBC/SRC radio stations, conventional television stations, discretionary services, and on-demand services, for the broadcast year ending 31 August 2023.

CBC/SRC revenues include parliamentary appropriations for conventional television.

Annual returns for the broadcast year ending 31 August 2022 were required to be filed with the Commission by 30 November 2022. Data received after the compilation date is not reflected in this publication. The data reported for previous years has been updated to reflect any additional or adjusted information received by the Commission after the 31 August date for prior years’ publications.

Pursuant to Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2015-86, the term “discretionary services” now encompasses all currently licensed services formerly known as pay and specialty services, whereas the term “on-demand service” now encompasses all licensed pay-per-view and video-on-demand services.

Link directly to Media Technology Monitor (MTM) Media Technology Monitor (MTM)

MTM measures Canadians’ media technology adoption and use at two points in time to monitor changes in media penetration and use over the year. Telephone interviews are conducted with a regionally representative sample of Canadians who have a landline telephone service and those who rely solely on cell phone service. The 2023 fall survey included 8,689 Canadian adults (4,815 Anglophones and 4,144 Francophones). Respondents 18+ may also self-identify as Racialized Canadians or Indigenous peoples. The CMR uses data collected from the fall surveys unless stated otherwise.

www.mtm-otm.ca

Link directly to Omdia (Formerly Ovum) Omdia (Formerly Ovum)

Download-based audio services

Revenues of download-based audio services are estimated based on publicly available data, such as company annual reports, in addition to Canada’s other media revenues, such as physical music album sales and live music attendance revenues. These estimates are further refined using data about online audio subscriptions in the market as a benchmark.

In some cases where information is unavailable, Omdia based its revenue estimations on service providers’ market shares and revenues reported in a similar country.

Streaming audio services

Streaming audio services use different business models to which different methodologies apply. The total revenues of subscription-based digital streaming, advertisement-based digital streaming, and audio-video streams are added to determine total revenues of streaming audio services.

• Revenues of subscription-based digital streaming services (such as Spotify) are estimated based on publicly available data, including the number of subscribers and service rates/pricing, such as company annual reports and news articles. These are then used to estimate an average monthly subscription revenue per subscriber, considering all available service plans from a given provider, and distributed to the estimated number of subscribers. The estimated average monthly subscription revenue per subscriber is then multiplied by the subscriber estimate.
• Revenues of advertisement-based digital streaming are estimated based on publicly available data about traffic, advertising load and pricing, as well as video traffic and digital advertising forecasts. These estimates are further refined based on each entity’s performance in other video segments.

Subscription-based video-on-demand (SVOD) services

Revenues of SVOD services are estimated based on publicly available data on the number of subscribers and services rates/pricing, such as company annual reports and news articles. These are then used to estimate an average monthly subscription revenue per subscriber considering all available service plans from a given provider and distributed among the estimated number of subscribers. The estimated average monthly subscription revenue per subscriber is then multiplied by the subscriber estimate.

Transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) services

Revenues of TVOD services are estimated based on publicly available data, such as company annual reports, in addition to Canada’s other media revenues, such as home video and pay television revenues. These estimates are further refined using data on online video subscriptions in the market as a benchmark.

In some cases, where information is unavailable, Omdia based its revenue estimations on service providers’ market shares and revenues in a country similar to the one subject to analysis.

Advertising video-on-demand (AVOD) services

Revenues of AVOD services are estimated using publicly available and, where necessary, quantitatively modelled data (informed by analyst knowledge and assumptions) about advertising load, pricing and market share. These are then applied to video traffic and digital advertising forecast models to derive revenue estimates. These estimates are further refined based on each entity’s performance in other video segments.

Omdia defines AVOD revenue as revenue generated through the sale of in-stream video advertising (i.e., pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll, and in-player overlays) delivered over the Internet. This excludes out-of-stream video advertising (e.g., video ads that play independently of video content, such as in-read and in-feed social video ad formats). This revenue is from advertiser spending.

The YouTube revenue figure represents YouTube in-stream video advertising revenue, which comprises revenue generated through the delivery of in-stream video advertising (i.e., pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll, and in-player overlays) on YouTube. This does not include revenue generated by static display, dynamic display ads, or search ads delivered on the YouTube platform. This revenue is from advertiser spending.

The broadcaster company revenue figures represent the total in-stream video advertising revenue generated by the combined total of each player’s online video properties.

The Facebook revenue figure comprises revenue generated through the delivery of in-stream video advertising (i.e., mid-rolls) placed in videos viewed on the Facebook platform. This includes videos viewed within the News Feed, Suggested Videos, and Facebook’s recently launched Watch platform. This revenue is from advertiser spending.

Out-of-stream video advertising revenue comprises revenue generated through the delivery of out-of-stream advertising (i.e., video ads that are served outside of the video player). This includes in-feed video advertising on all social networks. It also includes out-of-stream video advertising placed on digital publishers’ sites and interstitial video advertising delivered within mobile apps. This revenue is from advertiser spending.

Mobile video advertising comprises revenue from in-stream video advertising (pre-rolls, mid-rolls, post-rolls) and out-of-stream video advertising delivered over the Internet to, viewed on, and formatted for mobile devices.

Desktop and laptop video advertising comprises revenue from in-stream video advertising (i.e., pre-rolls, mid-rolls, post-rolls) and out-of-stream video advertising delivered over the Internet to desktop PCs and laptops.

Connected TV video advertising comprises revenue from in-stream video advertising (i.e., pre-rolls, mid-rolls, post-rolls) delivered over the Internet to smart TVs, media streamers, game consoles, and connected set-top boxes.

Omdia has restated past years Internet-based video revenue estimates, to integrate newly publicly disclosed information from entities offering services and collecting revenues in Canada. This may affect year over year comparisons.

Link directly to Numeris Numeris

Audience measurement data is important not only to industry stakeholders, who use the data to help sell airtime to advertisers, but also to the CRTC, which uses the data to assess the effectiveness of its policies by understanding the reach of programming across the country and across various demographics.

Television audience measurement data sourced from Numeris was collected by portable people meter (PPM) devices.

Prior to 2019-2020, radio audience measurement data was based on Numeris radio data from the fall surveys across Canada, Monday to Sunday from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m., with participants aged 12 or older. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its extenuating factors, Numeris was unable to produce the Fall 2020 Radio Release. In its place, the Spring 2020 and Spring 2021 surveys were used. The Fall 2021 survey was used in 2020-2021. The Fall 2022 survey was used in 2021-2022.

Since 2021, Numeris only measures the top 22 markets, Monday to Sunday from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m., with participants aged 12 or older.

The Numeris data presented by linguistic market divides Canada into two sections: (1) all of Canada, excluding Francophone respondents in Quebec; and (2) exclusively Francophones respondents in Quebec.

The television seasons used by Numeris were the following:

• 26 August 2013 to 31 August 2014, includes all persons 2+, Monday to Sunday, 2 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• 1 September 2014 to 30 August 2015, includes all persons 2+, Monday to Sunday, 2 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• 31 August 2015 to 28 August 2016, includes all persons 2+, Monday to Sunday, 2 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• 29 August 2016 to 27 August 2017, includes all persons 2+, Monday to Sunday, 2 a.m. to 2.a.m.
• 28 August 2017 to 26 August 2018, includes all persons 2+, Monday to Sunday, 2 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• 27 August 2018 to 30 August 2019, includes all persons 2+, Monday to Sunday, 2 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• 26 August 2019 to 30 August 2020, includes all persons 2+, Monday to Sunday, 2 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• 31 August 2020 to 29 August 2021, includes all persons 2+, Monday to Sunday, 2 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• 30 August 2021 to 28 August 2022, includes all persons 2+, Monday to Sunday, 2 a.m. to 2 a.m.
• 29 August 2022 to 27 August 2023, includes all persons 2+, Monday to Sunday, 2 a.m. to 2 a.m.

The DMBU audiovisual figures used in the 2022 and 2023 broadcast year represent in-home Video Audience Measurement (VAM) of Numeris participating services. VAM data is collected using a FocalMeter, a small box attached to the participating household’s router that detects when Numeris participating stations and streaming services are watched on the internet through different digital devices. In the 2022 and 2023 broadcast year, only the Ontario market and the Quebec Francophone market were measured using VAM.

Link directly to Definitions Definitions

AVOD refers to advertising video-on-demand service. This is an Internet-based service model in which a client typically has free access to content but is exposed to in-stream advertisements (e.g., YouTube and Facebook).

BDU revenues refers to revenues from basic and non-basic BDU services and excludes Internet-based service revenues, such as Netflix, Crave and Club Illico, but include Internet Protocol Television services such as Bell Fibe and Telus Optik TV.

Broadcasting contributions to Canadian content include Canadian content development (CCD) contributions, Canadian programming expenditures (CPE), contributions to the creation and production of Canadian programming from BDUs, and tangible benefits from ownership transactions in the form of CCD contributions and CPE.

Canadian programming expenditures refers to expenditures used to create Canadian programming and to ensure that a diversity of voices and interests are represented in our national broadcasting system. The policy objectives of the Broadcasting Act include encouraging the development of Canadian expression and ensuring that each element of the Canadian broadcasting system contributes to the creation and presentation of Canadian programming, in an appropriate manner. As such, Canadian broadcasters are required to allocate portions of their annual broadcasting revenues to expenditures on Canadian programming.

Canadian content development (CCD) contributions are financial contributions made by radio broadcasters to support the development and promotion of Canadian musical and spoken word content for broadcast.

Conventional TV refers to national broadcast television networks (i.e. CBC/SRC, Global, TVA).

Direct-to-home (DTH) refers to satellite service providers.

Discretionary services encompass all currently licensed services formerly known as pay and specialty services, pursuant to Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2015-86.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is a metric used to measure financial performance. It is expressed as a percentage of total revenues.

IPTV refers to Internet Protocol Television, such as Bell Fibe and Telus Optik TV, but excludes Internet-based services, such as Netflix, Crave, and Club Illico.

On-demand services encompass all licensed pay-per-view (PPV) and video-on-demand (VOD) services, pursuant to Broadcasting Regulatory Policy 2015-86.

PBIT refers to profit before interest and taxes.

Programs of national interest (PNI) are programs from the following categories:

• Long-form documentary (category 2b);
• Drama and comedy (category 7);
• Music and dance (including music video clips and music video programs) and variety (categories 8 and 9) in the French-language market; and
• English-language and French-language award shows (which fall under General entertainment and human interest [category 11]).
• For French-language broadcasters, PNI also includes music video and variety programs.

SVOD refers to subscription-based video-on-demand service. It is an Internet-based service model in which a client pays a subscription fee to gain access to a library of content. This category includes services that air the content of the library according to a linear schedule (e.g., Sportsnet Now) and services that permit a user to choose from a catalogue of content that is available at any time (e.g., Netflix and Amazon Prime Video).

Total broadcasting revenues include revenues from private commercial and CBC/SRC conventional television, discretionary and on-demand services, private commercial and CBC/SRC radio services, as well as BDUs. They do not include Internet-based services unless stated otherwise.

TVOD refers to transactional video-on-demand service. It is an Internet-based service model in which a client pays for specific content but generally does not pay to access the service itself (e.g., iTunes, Microsoft Movies & TV, and the PlayStation Network).