Source : Globe & Mail

A robust economy, strong advertising rates and a spate of cheap reality programming helped make 2003 a blockbuster for private broadcasters.

A report from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission yesterday showed that broadcasters' bottom lines doubled last year, to a total of $189.9-million.The federal regulator, which tracked the financial performance of Canada's privately held TV stations from 1999 to 2003, also found revenue climbed 10.4 per cent to $2.087-billion in 2003 from a year earlier. That is a robust performance given that the average annual growth rate had been 2.8 per cent the past five years, the study said.

However, a CRTC spokesman said ad revenues were stagnant from 1999 to 2002. "To put it in perspective, profitability is basically only now back to its 1999 level."

Expenses of private stations climbed 4.5-per-cent in 2003, to $1.7-billion.

Barry Kiefl, president of Ottawa-based Canadian Media Research Inc., says the data suggest audience fragmentation in 2003 slowed, primarily because few new specialty TV networks were launched.

"On top of that, reality programs, such as CTV's Canadian Idol and Global's Pop Stars, drove very large audiences. Couple that with a good economy and you've got all the ingredients to do very well."

The report found private broadcasters spent $117.8-million on Canadian drama in 2003, a 20.8-per-cent increase from 2002. Spending on human interest programs grew 33.1-per-cent, to $51.7-million. But musical and variety programming plunged to $11-million in 2003 from $24.5-million.

Bob Reaume, a vice-president at the Association of Canadian Advertisers, said the swelling profits are not surprising given how much TV stations jacked up ad rates during the so-called up-front, the period in May and June when advertisers have to pre-book TV time for the coming year.

"Broadcasters pushed through double-digit increases, and tried for 40 to 50 per cent for their top shows," he said. "A lot of advertisers had to eat very big increases in 2003, and I don't think they're going to be open to those kind of jumps [this] year. Broadcasters all better enjoy 2003."

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