The CRTC has released initial fiscal and usership radio stats for 2013, saying that commercial radio stations in the country brought in total revenues of $1.62 billion and pre-tax profits of $331 million for the year. Though the regulator cautions that those numbers may be adjusted when they are finalized.

In a speech on the radio industry in Canada late last week, Scott Hutton, executive director of broadcasting for the CRTC said that the commission has issued close to 50 new licences in the past two years.

Hutton also pointed to stats from the CRTC’s 2013 Communications Monitoring Report, which say 20% of Canadians are streaming the signal of an AM or FM station over the internet, 14% stream audio on a tablet, 13% stream a personalized internet music service and 8% stream audio on a smartphone.

The CRTC doesn’t believe a comprehensive review of the commercial radio sector is necessary because it has remained relatively stable in recent years, but the organization is looking into the regulatory and policy elements of the industry.

Last October the regulator issued a call for comments on a targeted policy review for the commercial radio sector, with the first phase coming to an end in late January. An update as the regulatory moves into the second phase of the review is in the works, said Hutton.

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