No surprise here: cable remains the sweet spot of the Canadian TV industry.

The CRTC on Thursday unveiled its latest survey of Canadian broadcast distributors, and pointed to strong sector growth as the combined revenues for cable, satellite TV and multipoint distribution companies rose to $12.5 billion for the year to August 31, 2010, against revenues of $11.4 billion for the year-earlier period.

And cable generated the bulk of that business, with the sector’s total revenues rising 9.7% in 2010 to $10.1 billion.

No wonder cable companies, currently serving 8.3 million households nationwide, have been busily buying up conventional broadcast assets.

The cable sector saw operating expenses rise by 9% from $5.1 billion to $5.5 billion, according to the CRTC.

That put pre-interest and tax profits for the cable operators at $2.5 billion, or a corresponding profit margin of 25.3%.

The year-earlier 2009 pre-interest and tax profit came in at $2.3 billion and a 25.1% margin.

Even Canadian satellite TV operators, which took over a decade to reach sustained profitability, are flush these days.

The CRTC said total revenues for satellite and multipoint distribution companies jumped 9% from $2.2 billion in 2009 to $2.4 billion in 2010. Operating expenses were also up, by 4% from $1.75 billion to $1.82 billion in 2010.

That allowed satellite and multipoint distribution companies to post a combined profit before interest and taxes of $163.9 million in 2010.

Continued profitability from cable and satellite TV operators fed into indie production, with both sectors contributing $189.1 million to the Canadian Media Fund, and another $52.3 million to independent funds.