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Privacy and Security
Transparency

Appendix 1

Data collection and methodology analysis

Data collection

Broadcasting

Data collected through the data collection process from broadcasting licensees, including licensees of radio, television, broadcast distribution, and pay, pay-per-view, video-on-demand and specialty services, establishes a financial performance measure for conventional broadcasters and measures this sector's contribution to the Canadian economy. The key results of the data collection process take the form of detailed information on the revenues, expenditures and operating statistics. The quantity of information collected varies with the size of the company.

The data collection is conducted jointly by Statistics Canada and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (the Commission) under the authority of the Statistics Act and the Broadcasting Act. Statistics Canada uses the data to construct industry accounts, and the Commission uses it to monitor the industry's performance and adherence to regulations.

The data collection process targets all broadcasting service providers licensed by the Commission to operate private, public and non-commercial radio, television, broadcast distribution or pay, pay-per-view, video-on-demand and specialty services.

The broadcasting regulations require broadcasting service providers to complete and return the broadcasting survey forms. The forms are mailed to broadcasting companies in mid-October each year and cover the 12-month period ending 31 August of that year. The licensees have until 30 November to complete and return the forms. In 2007, the major distribution companies accessed and submitted the forms electronically using the Commission's secure web based data collection system (DCS). In 2008, additional broadcasting companies submitted the forms electronically using that same system.

In addition to the broadcasting form, commercial radio broadcasters must submit the Contributions to the Canadian Talent Development (CTD) or Contributions to Canadian Content Development (CCD) Form. Broadcast distribution undertakings must also submit the Financial Contributions to the Creation and Production of Canadian Programming Form. These two additional documents enable the Commission to ensure that the licensees are complying with their conditions of licence relating to their CTD/CCD contributions and to their contributions to the creation and production of Canadian programming.

Telecommunications

The data collection process is also used to maintain and update the data on (i) the telecommunications service providers registration lists, (ii) the contribution regime, (iii) telecommunications fees, and (iv) the telecommunications service industry as part of the Commission's monitoring activities.²⁶⁰

All telecommunications service providers are classified into one of two groups. Group 1 service providers generally (i) have significant telecommunications revenues, (ii) file tariffs, or (iii) have international licences. Group 2 service providers generally have lower revenues.

Each service provider is required to complete and submit annually to the Commission a registration form, which is used to update certain basic information about the service provider and determine what additional forms, if any, are to be issued to the service provider. Group 1 service providers access and submit the registration form electronically using the Commission's secure web based DCS. Each year these service providers are notified by email at the start of the data collection process and are provided with (i) the due dates for submission of the registration form and the subsequent data forms, and (ii) the information needed to access DCS. Group 2 service providers, on the other hand, are mailed a registration form for completion. Once submitted, this generally marks the end of the data collection process for the Group 2 service providers.

Group 1 service providers are required to submit a range of company specific information, including financial data (e.g. income statement, balance sheet, and capital expenditures), along with detailed telecommunications information focusing on products and on geographic markets. Geographic markets are defined on a national, provincial/territorial, regional, local exchange, or city basis. The data submitted is as of 31 December of each year.

Data Analysis

Broadcasting

A compliance analysis is performed by the Commission on the financial data from the annual returns submitted by all broadcasting service providers. The objectives of this analysis are as follows:

• to ensure that the summary of financial data for operations connected to the licensee, included in the annual return, corresponds to the data presented in the financial statements required of the licensees in accordance with Circular No. 404;²⁶¹
• to reconcile the actual expenditures on Canadian programming with the expenditures required by licensees' conditions of licence;
• to reconcile the actual contributions to CTD or CCD with the contributions required by licensees' conditions of licence; and
• to proceed with a percentage or ratio analysis of the trends in the major categories of revenue and expenditures presented in the annual forms over a five-year period, particularly with reference to the previous year.

Financial and statistical summaries are then published by the Commission for the four major broadcasting categories, (i.e. commercial radio, conventional television, broadcast distribution, and pay, pay-per-view, video-on-demand and specialty services). The data is also used in the preparation of the CRTC Communications Monitoring Report.

Revisions may be made to the financial and statistical summaries. These generally follow late receipt of data, modifications made by the licensees to previously filed data, or errors detected following publication of the data. They generally do not have a major impact on the results of the data collection process.

Telecommunications

The returns are analyzed to ensure that the coverage of telecommunications service providers is as anticipated and that a complete response has been provided. Follow-up is initiated at this stage to resolve or obtain explanations of anomalies identified in the data submitted. The data is then subjected to computerized edits designed to ensure accuracy and internal consistency. For larger enterprises, the reported data is compared to audited financial information, and major discrepancies are investigated. A year-over-year comparison is made to identify any radical or unexplained changes. If necessary, follow-up is initiated with the TSP. Finally, the data is analyzed to determine the validity of the submissions by performing a time series analysis or by comparing the data or its derivatives (such as average revenues per line or minute) against other established benchmarks.

Certain figures published in the monitoring report from previous years may be restated to be consistent with data displayed in this report. Other figures may change as a result of some companies resubmitting previous years' data. In addition, certain data may be reclassified to better reflect the market segments or industry developments. These restatements are identified by means of a number sign (#).

Most of the tables and figures included in the report are derived from data submitted via the DCS while others are derived using Statistics Canada and Department of Industry information. Inconsistencies may arise between the data derived from these sources, given that the companies surveyed, the definitions used and the level of detail requested may be different for each source. The data source is therefore identified for each table and figure contained in the report.