TV broadcasters received more than $100 million in direct federal subsidies through the pandemic, the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) disclosed yesterday. .“Over 75% of assistance in 2021 was in the form of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy,” said a CRTC report. Direct payments to television networks and affiliates totaled $22.5 million last year and $81.1 million in 2020, a total $103.6 million..The CRTC also waived $36.5 million in annual fees owed by television networks. The CRTC yesterday acknowledged subsidies were paid even as fewer Canadians watched conventional television..“Overall, the average hours spent watching traditional television services has decreased,” said the report. Viewership was down 9% in Québec and 18.8% in English-speaking markets. “Interestingly the viewing share of news programming during the pandemic increased about 2.5%,” wrote analysts..“The two most recent broadcast years were marked by several and varied instances of societal and business shutdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” wrote the Commission. “These resulted in significant declines to the advertising revenues of the traditional commercial broadcasting sectors and an increased uptake by Canadians of online broadcasting content.”.The latest data follow a July 15 report published by the CRTC that predicted the “next three years will determine whether the Canadian broadcasting system survives” in the face of competitors like Netflix and YouTube. “How much time do we have? Best guess given current trends: three years,” said the report The State Of The Canadian Program Rights Market..Internet services like Netflix and YouTube are expected to account for up to 30% of total “television” revenues this year. “In 2008 online advertising overtook radio,” said the report. “In 2010 it overtook print. And in 2013 it overtook television.”.“For over fifteen years Canadian media have witnessed erosion in advertising starting even before they saw losses in audience as advertisers increasingly took advantage of the almost limitless number of cost effective, data-driven targeted options online,” said Rights Market..“If a Canadian broadcasting system with a strong private Canadian element is deemed to be in the public interest new structural measures which could incentivize and prioritize Canadian broadcasting without restricting entry of foreign services should be implemented,” said the report.
