Revenue among private Canadian broadcasters rose nearly 4% in 2005 to $2.2 billion, delivering profits of $242 million – up from $232 million in 2004 – according to data released by the CRTC. The total spend for programming for 2005 was $1.3 billion, with $587 million going to Canadian-made programming, up 1.9% from 2004.

The numbers drew an immediate rebuke from ACTRA, which criticized the spending on domestic drama, about one-fifth of what went to U.S. fare.

See the April 17 issue of Playback for further coverage.