The Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission said Monday that revenues at the country’s commercial radio stations are now back to pre-recession levels.
The federal broadcast regulator said the 669 commercial radio stations operating in Canada earned revenue totalling $1.6 billion for the broadcast year ended Aug. 31, 2011, up from $1.55 billion the previous year.
Expenses rose to $1.26 billion, up from $1.21 billion.
The CRTC said there were 13 new FM stations in 2011 to bring the total to 535 with combined revenue of $1.3 billion, up from $1.24 billion.
There were 134 AM stations in 2011, down from 141 the previous year, however revenue for the AM stations increased to $311 million, up from $307 million.
The CRTC said commercial radio stations employed 10,576 people and paid a total of $676.3 million in salaries for the 2011 broadcast year, up from the previous year when they employed 10,104 people and paid $640.7 million in salaries.
