FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
YEAR IN REVIEW – OUR RESULTS
REVENUE
| For the year ended March 31 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2017 | % change | |
| Advertising | |||
| English Services | 178,103 | 167,913 | 6.1 |
| French Services | 140,179 | 132,678 | 5.7 |
| 318,282 | 300,591 | 5.9 | |
| Subscriber fees | |||
| English Services | 68,016 | 71,574 | (5.0) |
| French Services | 59,194 | 59,671 | (0.8) |
| 127,210 | 131,245 | (3.1) | |
| Financing, investment and other income | |||
| English Services | 51,736 | 55,514 | (6.8) |
| French Services | 28,480 | 27,533 | 3.4 |
| Corporate Services | 47,367 | 42,037 | 12.7 |
| 127,583 | 125,084 | 2.0 | |
| TOTAL | 573,075 | 556,920 | 2.9 |
Our self-generated revenue increased by $16.2 million (￪ 2.9%), as described below.
ADVERTISING (￪ 5.9 %)
Our advertising revenue depends on the different events of significant importance we cover throughout the year, the overall health of the advertising market and the success of our programming schedule.
The $17.7 million increase in advertising revenue this year resulted from:
EVENTS
Advertising revenue from events was higher this year due to our broadcast of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Last year’s advertising results included less revenue from broadcasting the Rio 2016 Olympic Games during the summer.
ONGOING ACTIVITIES
Higher advertising revenue from our ongoing activities (￪ 2.7%) mostly as a result of:
- Radio-Canada outperforming the Francophone advertising market, with the total market close to flat this year; and
- Growth in our digital advertising revenue with digital video benefiting from higher audiences due to the number of significant news stories, and higher programmatic sales (automated sales of digital advertising).
The increases this year were partly offset by the persistent softness of TV advertising in our English markets. While CBC performed better than the market, its overall TV advertising revenue from ongoing activities decreased in 2017-2018.
SUBSCRIBER FEES (￬ 3.1%)
Our subscriber revenue is driven by the rates for our specialty channels and the size of our subscriber base, which has declined when compared to the prior year due to the adverse effects of the cord-shaving trend affecting the cable industry.
Our subscriber revenue decreased by $4.0 million (3.1%) relative to last year. The main changes by specialty channel are highlighted below:
- CBC News Network, ICI RDI and ICI ARTV’s revenue decreases resulted from subscriber base declines this year.
- ICI TOU.TV EXTRA’s revenue increased this year due to the continuous growth of its subscriber base, reflecting the success of this digital platform.
FINANCING, INVESTMENT AND OTHER INCOME (￪ 2.0%)
Financing, investment and other income depends on the different events and transactions throughout the year as it includes production revenue from host broadcasting services and revenue from the sale of content. It also reflects revenue from our rentals, sponsorships and retransmission rights. More information about our revenue streams is provided in note 22 Revenue of our Consolidated Financial Statements.
The $2.5 million (2.0%) increase in financing, investment and other income this year resulted from:
EVENTS
Other income from events decreased this year as licensing revenue generated from the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games was lower than last year’s licensing revenue from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
ONGOING ACTIVITIES
Financing, investment and other income arising from our ongoing activities increased by 3.9% this year mostly due to:
- Additional retransmission rights received in the first half of 2017-2018; and
- Higher production revenue mostly from host broadcasting sports events this year such as the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships last fall. In addition, we generated higher revenue this year from renting facilities to independent producers.
These increases were partly offset by lower content sales and rental revenue this year.
Canada Day 2017 in Toronto. ©CBC/Radio-Canada.
