Broadcasters warn of possible radio and television closures across Canada

Private radio and television broadcasters are sounding the alarm about the state of their industry. The industry says the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to the closure of dozens of stations across the country.

“Without immediate action, Canada will see a wave of local television and radio closures over the next three years,” said Lenore Gibson, Chair of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) board of directors. “This will deny many communities a daily local media voice, and significantly reduce the diversity of news choices and voices in almost every community in Canada.”

A report commissioned by the CAB warns advertising revenue shortfalls may push up to 50 radio stations off the air within the next six months and shutter as many as 150 over the next 18 months. Meantime, almost half of the 40 privately-owned Canadian television stations could close within the next three years. The closures could result in as many as 2,000 job losses.

“A number of stations are facing negative returns, so last year, for example, 40 per cent of Canadian radio stations saw negative PBIT (profit before interest and taxes) and 70 per cent of Canadian television stations saw negative PBIT,” said President of the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group Rod Schween. “So that’s obviously not a sustainable model, and COVID has made that even more challenging.”

The greatest impact will be felt in smaller cities and rural communities, which already have limited journalism resources. The report states that while administration jobs have been cut to deal with financial shortfalls over recent years, newsroom jobs and other on-air positions will likely be impacted more in the future.

“Private broadcasters are doing everything possible to avoid major cuts or reductions in local news coverage,” said Robert Ranger, President and CEO, RNC Media Inc. “This would be a last resort. We don’t want to deny communities in Quebec or across the country their choice of daily local media – media that remain critical pillars to our democracy and shared culture.”

The report acknowledges advertising revenues have been shrinking for years for private broadcasters. However, the pandemic has accelerated the negative trend and created a crisis in the Canadian industry.

The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group has been forced to lay off 40 employees. Schween says the federal government – similar to what it’s done with the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and wage subsidy – needs to help the broadcast industry if it hopes to survive the pandemic and beyond.

“There’s got to be a regulatory review,” noted Schween. “COVID again has just exacerbated the situation. It’s sped up the timeline on things we already started to see. We’ve been asking for regulatory review for a long period of time. Had they done some of that regulatory review before COVID – and hindsight is always 20/20 – we obviously would be in a lot better shape right now. We’re going to need short- and medium-term compensation and funds to keep these stations on the air.”

The report suggests the federal government can protect the industry by offering immediate financial assistance and through regulatory relief by recognizing some licence obligations can’t be met. Long term, the report suggests the federal government institute a holistic review of the future of media in Canada.

Note: Vernon Matters, Beach Radio, Power 104, CFJC and its sister Jim Pattison Broadcast Group stations are members of the Canadian Association of Broadcasting.