Yesterday the CRTC released the findings of its annual report on the state of Canadian radio, which offers financial and statistical information on the 675 total AM and FM stations currently operating in the Canadian market.

The report shows that despite stiff competition from satellite radio and online and mobile services, total broadcast revenues for all AM and FM stations for the year ended Aug. 31, 2012 were up 0.4% to $1.62 billion compared to 2011. In addition, expenditures declined by $3.7 million, causing the profits before interest and taxes margin to grow to 19.9% from 19.3%.

Canada’s FM stations continued to generate the majority of total revenues, earning $1.31 billion up slightly from $1.3 billion in 2011. The launch of 11 new stations brought the total number of operating FM stations to 546.

Revenues for English-language FM stations stayed relatively unchanged at $1.04 billion, while revenues for French-language stations grew 1.7% to $251.8 million. Ethnic stations also saw modest growth of 1.9%, increasing their revenues to $20 million.

Overall, AM radio saw a decline in total revenues of 1.6%, dipping to $306 million from $311 million in 2011. The number of AM stations also declined to 129 from 134, in part due to the trend of AM stations switching to the FM band.

Earnings for English-language stations stayed the same at $275 million, while ethnic stations saw a revenue increase of 3% to $25.2 million.

In 2012, there were a total of 10,050 people working in the radio industry.