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OTTAWA, Canada — CBC/Radio-Canada continues to accelerate its digital transformation, driven by strong online growth and audience engagement. Its monthly digital reach climbed to 21.1 million visitors, surpassing the target of 20.7 million. Users now spend an average of 45 minutes per visit — well above the 39 minutes expected — boosted by coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
CBC’s English-language platforms attracted 16.2 million monthly visitors, while Radio-Canada’s French-language platforms drew 5.4 million. Francophone digital engagement rose to 52 minutes per visitor, a significant year-on-year increase.
Despite this digital surge, linear radio remains part of daily life for many Canadians. Some 67% of adults aged 18 and older tune in weekly (down from 84% a decade ago) but among 18- to 34-year-olds, listening drops to 53%, far behind the 95% who use the internet.
Contrasting linear audiences
In radio, CBC Radio One and CBC Music together reached a 13.7% share, just below the 14.6% target, though their combined weekly audience grew to 10.5 million listeners. On the French side, ICI Première and ICI Musique achieved 26.4%, exceeding the goal of 24.9%.
Television showed similar patterns. ICI Télé captured a 22.8% market share, slightly under target, while CBC Television (5.4%) and CBC News Network (2.1%) surpassed expectations thanks to a packed news cycle that included national elections, the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the appointment of Mark Carney as his successor.
Overall revenue reached CA$588.7 million, a year-on-year increase of 19.3%, driven largely by advertising gains of 27.3% linked to Olympic coverage. Digital ad revenue jumped 33.3% to CA$100.3 million and subscriptions to online services — including ICI TOU.TV Extra and CBC Gem — rose by nearly 30%.
Other revenue streams, such as content sales, retransmissions and licensing, also climbed 16.4%, highlighting the broadcaster’s continued diversification. CBC and Radio-Canada each exceeded their respective revenue goals, generating CA$301 million and CA$297 million.
We want to be a public broadcaster that unites Canadians, celebrates the diversity of their experiences and reinforces our presence in communities
Marie-Philippe Bouchard, CBC president and CEO
Strengthening local presence
Remaining true to its public service mandate, CBC/Radio-Canada has created 30 permanent journalist positions in 22 underserved communities across the country — including Squamish, Red Deer and Lloydminster.
“We want to be a public broadcaster that unites Canadians, celebrates the diversity of their experiences and reinforces our presence in communities,” said Marie-Philippe Bouchard, president and CEO since January 2025.
The Collab initiative, launched in partnership with public libraries, now operates in every province and territory. The broadcaster’s charitable campaigns generated nearly C$13.8 million in donations nationwide. Internationally, CBC/Radio-Canada co-hosted the PBI Conference in Ottawa, co-produced a podcast with BBC World Service and expanded its presence on FAST [Free Ad-supported Television] platforms such as Samsung TV Plus, Roku and LG Channels. Its YouTube content achieved a record 1.6 billion views.
Public funding and fiscal balance
The organization is also modernizing its production and management systems, adopting Dalet technology and migrating financial operations to Oracle Fusion Cloud.
Government funding totaled CA$1.407 billion, down 2% from the previous year. Expenditures rose 4% to CA$1.965 billion, mainly due to Olympic production costs, resulting in a net income of CA$18.6 million, down from CA$40.5 million the year before.
In its report, CBC/Radio-Canada stated that it intends to “continue expanding its digital and local presence so that all Canadians can access its content whenever and however they choose.”
The author is editor of RedTech’s French sister publication, La Lettre Pro.
This story originally appeared in the November/December edition of RedTech Magazine.
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