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88-456: In March 2012, Bell Media announced its intent to acquire Astral for $ 3.38 billion. Although an attempt to purchase the entirety of the company was blocked under competition law , the CRTC approved a revised offer on June 27, 2013, which saw various Astral specialty channels and radio stations divested to competitors. The sale was consummated on July 5, 2013. Astral was dissolved later the same year as

176-653: A TV Everywhere service, which would allow subscribers to Bravo on participating television service providers to stream video on demand content and the Bravo channel live via the Bravo Go app . Apps for some of its other networks were also released over the following months. In December 2014, Bell Media launched CraveTV , a subscription video on-demand service. Initially, the service was available only through television providers; Bell Media president Kevin Crull argued that Bell did not want

264-576: A blind trust by Pierre Boivin until the completion of their acquisitions. On May 16, 2013, the Jim Pattison Group announced a deal to acquire three stations in Calgary and Winnipeg from Bell and Astral— CKCE-FM , CHIQ-FM , and CFQX , for an undisclosed amount. The deal expanded the Jim Pattison Group's operations in Calgary (where it was planning to launch a new station, CHPK-FM ), and gave

352-625: A department store chain. Its acquisition in 1963 of Bellevue Pathé led to photography rights at the Montreal Expo 67 World's Fair, and it eventually grew into a 125-store chain, Astral Photo , the remnants of which are now owned by the Black's Photography chain. The company grew quickly into motion picture processing after acquiring the Pathé-Humphries motion picture lab in 1968 and Associated Screen News Industries of Montreal in 1969. The company

440-694: A 42% share of the English-language television market, the new deal would only give Bell a total market share of 35.7%, but still increase its French-language market share to 23% (in comparison to 8% before). Following hearings by the CRTC in May 2013, the CRTC approved Bell's acquisition of Astral Media on June 27, 2013. The deal is subject to conditions, including the requirement to provide fair treatment to its competitors, to not impose "restrictive bundling practices" on Astral's premium movie channels, invest $ 246.9 million over

528-566: A CRTC's hearing, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation argued that Bell's proposal to use its mandatory tangible benefits to launch a French-language news channel (which would compete with its own Réseau de l'information ) was "self-serving and unprecedented." In September 2012, the Competition Bureau stated that it was becoming "increasingly concerned" about the implications of the merger, and warned that it could oppose

616-535: A combined $ 113 million. TQS entered bankruptcy protection and was ultimately acquired by Remstar (which renamed the network "V"). Meanwhile, Glassbox Television acquired Travel + Escape in late 2010. In two cases, the operations were closed down, specifically CBC affiliate CKX-TV in Brandon, Manitoba (which left the air in October 2009 after a deal to sell that station to Bluepoint Investment Corporation fell through) and

704-628: A company that was spun out from the broadcasting division of the Labatt Brewing Company after its acquisition by Interbrew in 1995. The sale was approved by the CRTC March 24, 2000, but CTV had to divest either Netstar's TSN or their own Sportsnet ; they chose to sell the latter to Rogers . At the beginning of the 2000s, Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) acquired CTV Inc. (including the NetStar assets) and bought The Globe and Mail , folding

792-514: A controlling share of outdoor advertising firm Omni Outdoor (which eventually became the fully owned Astral Out-of-Home division), as well as several French-language specialty channels such as Canal Vie , Ztélé , Séries+ , VRAK.TV , and 50% stakes in MusiquePlus and MusiMax (then co-owned with CHUM Limited ). On February 23, 2007, Astral Media announced that it had signed a letter of intent and had entered into exclusive negotiations regarding

880-456: A corporation) that fall. The BBS television system was merged into CTV, with the company itself being renamed CTV Inc . the following year. The Eatons ' remaining shares, representing 41% of Baton (estimated at CA$ 450 million), were sold off to the general public in early 1998. By the end of 2001, nearly all CTV stations were consolidated under network ownership (including one replacement). In 1999, CTV Inc. acquired NetStar Communications ,

968-714: A corporation, with each owner holding a 14.3% stake in the network. However, any future acquisitions by Baton would come with all of that affiliate's CTV shares. It was around this time that former CBC executive Ivan Fecan joined the company. In 1996, the CRTC approved two major deals involving Baton. First was the acquisition of CFCN-TV in Calgary from Rogers Communications , which had recently purchased Maclean Hunter . Second, Baton and Electrohome —owner of CKCO-TV in Kitchener and CFRN-TV in Edmonton —formed an alliance, under which

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1056-506: A cross (†) character at the end indicates an asset which was not acquired by Bell Canada. *Currently being sold to other owners pending approval of the CRTC. Bell Media Bell Media Inc. ( French : Bell Média inc. ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada ). Its operations include national television broadcasting and production (including

1144-730: A development consortium that was led by Harold Greenberg with funding from the CBC called the Centre De Production De Montreal, which is set for open in 1989. In 1983, the Greenbergs acquired complete control of two pay television networks, First Choice (now known as The Movie Network) and Premier Choix TVEC (now Super Écran ), at which point Astral ceased to be directly involved in film and program production. The company would later expand its television operations by launching new specialty networks. In addition, it became involved with

1232-724: A further expansion into Saskatchewan , purchasing CKCK-TV in Regina , Yorkton twinstick CKOS-TV / CICC-TV , and CBC affiliate CKBI-TV Prince Albert . A twinstick CTV affiliate was soon launched in Prince Albert, CIPA-TV . In the late 1980s, Baton applied for a high-power station in Ottawa on channel 60. The licence was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), appealed to federal cabinet by rival broadcasters, and ultimately sent back to

1320-652: A license for a new independent station, CHWI-TV , in Windsor . In 1991, the company launched Ontario Network Television, a secondary affiliation carried by Baton's CTV and independent stations in Ontario. This was expanded in 1994 into the Baton Broadcast System (BBS), which included Baton's Saskatchewan stations. BBS was meant as a backup in case Baton's ongoing acquisitions did not translate into control of CTV itself. A year earlier, CTV had been recently restructured into

1408-624: A localized version of its online radio service iHeartRadio Canada . On January 14, 2016, CraveTV became available as a standalone service without requiring an existing television subscription. On May 4, 2016, Bell acquired rights to the programming and branding of Canadian specialty channel Gusto TV . The channel was shut down, and re-launched on September 1, 2016, replacing M3 under its existing Category A license . On January 31, 2017, Bell Media announced that it planned to perform another round of layoffs in 24 locations, citing various developments across Canada's broadcasting industry, as well as

1496-471: A new, international television format that would "uncover, develop, and promote pop culture's next musical superstars", and "leverage Bell Media's massive reach and extensive platforms to showcase musicians on the national and international stage." CTV officially announced the new series, The Launch , in April 2017. On June 7, 2017, Wow Unlimited Media announced that it would acquire a specialty channel from

1584-495: A non-core asset; as a result, much attention was given to the likely sale of the company, and potentially a breakup into several different pieces. On December 2, 2005, Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) announced that it would sell an 8.5% interest to The Woodbridge Company Limited (increasing their total ownership to 40%), a 20% interest to Torstar , and a 20% interest to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan . BCE retained 20% of

1672-466: A result of Bell Media completing its acquisition of the company. Bell Media assumed some of Astral's television functions and absorbed some of its premium television services. Astral Media's roots lie with Angreen Photo, a Canadian company founded in 1961. It was created when Montreal 's Greenberg brothers, led by Harold Greenberg , founded it to operate the photography concession in Miracle Mart ,

1760-496: A seven-year period. Commissioner Suzanne Lamarre commented that Bell could have sold another station instead, given most of the comments on Bell's petition only supported CKGM maintaining a sports radio format, and not Bell's purchase of Astral. In response, Bell's CEO George A. Cope commented that the company did not want to sell off profitable radio stations, and Astral CEO Jacques Parisien remarked that breaking up its Montreal cluster would affect their operation. Rogers called on

1848-527: A significant minority interest in the radio station operators Milestone Radio , Haliburton Broadcasting Group and 3937844 Canada Inc. in Canada, and Martz Communications Group in the US. The company also operated divisions in e-commerce , videotape and DVD distribution, retail marketing and audio and video post-production, and was the primary shareholder in the satellite radio provider Sirius Canada . In 2006,

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1936-697: A similar deal for CHUM's 50% interest in MusiMax and MusiquePlus . That June, the CRTC approved the CHUM takeover, on condition that CTV sell off the Citytv stations, because of the CTV network's owned-and-operated station stations serving the very same cities. CTV ultimately chose to keep the A-Channel stations along with the rest of CHUM Ltd. assets it had previously said it would sell, except for MusiquePlus/MusiMax. Rogers Communications

2024-569: A skyscraper rechristened Maison Astral . In May 2010, the company unveiled a new logo featuring a multi-coloured "a" insignia (reflecting ideals of "collaboration" and "creativity"). At this time, the company began to trade as simply "Astral". In the fall of 2011, Teletoon (co-owned with Corus Entertainment at the time) adopted a new logo to reflect Astral's 50th anniversary. On March 16, 2012, Astral Media announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Bell Canada through its Bell Media division for $ 3.38 billion. Astral Media shareholders approved

2112-759: A speech to the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television prior to the hearings, Bell Media's president Kevin Crull detailed plans to invest in French-language productions and maintain a distinct operation in Montreal devoted to its French-language outlets. Crull also praised the role of Québecor Média (despite the company being opposed to the merger) in using its own vertical integration strategy to help promote Francophone talent, and revealed his intention to try and emulate its "star system" in English Canada. CRTC hearings on

2200-466: A story on the changes that included remarks by Blais. CTV News president Wendy Freeman, Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife , and the program's anchor Lisa LaFlamme felt that the inclusion of remarks by Blais was necessary due to the nature of the story. In response to the dismissal, BCE CEO George A. Cope explained that the journalistic independence of its news operations was "paramount importance to our company and to all Canadians". Shortly after taking

2288-738: A streaming video app with short-form content from Bell Media properties and other sources. Standard Broadcasting Slaight Communications is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. The company was formed as Slaight Broadcasting in 1971, when owner J. Allan Slaight acquired CFGM in Richmond Hill . Slaight later also acquired CFOX in Montreal and CHOK in Sarnia , and launched CILQ in Toronto . The company later sold off all of its original assets, and continued to operate its radio holdings through

2376-498: The Ba ssett and Ea ton families ( Baton ), and Aldred-Rogers Broadcasting (owned by broadcaster Joel Aldred and Ted Rogers ); Foster Hewitt was also an initial investor, but in a much smaller role. Aldred sold his shares in 1961, followed by Rogers by 1970, thereby relieving their names from the company title. With the Bassett and Eaton families firmly in control, the company went public in

2464-474: The CRTC on September 28, 2007. Astral would eventually be taken over by Bell Media on July 5, 2013. Astral did not acquire Standard's Internet and satellite radio assets, nor its minority interests in various other radio stations. The transaction was finalized on October 29, 2007, and Standard changed its name to Slaight Communications the following day. After selling its Standard Radio assets to Astral Media in October 2007, Slaight Communications remained

2552-467: The CTV and CTV 2 television networks), radio broadcasting (through iHeartRadio Canada ), digital media (including Crave ) and Internet properties (including the now-defunct Sympatico portal). Bell Media is the successor-in-interest to Baton Broadcasting (later CTV Inc. ), one of Canada's first private-sector television broadcasters. Although the company was founded in 1960 as Telegram Corporation ,

2640-440: The Competition Bureau approved a new proposal by Bell to acquire Astral Media, which would involve the divestiture of certain television channels and radio stations owned by the combined company, and was subject to restrictions preventing Bell from imposing restrictive bundling requirements on any provider seeking to carry The Movie Network or Super Écran . The CRTC made the proposed takeover proposal public on March 6, 2013. Unlike

2728-545: The Competition Bureau , citing a condition on the Bell/Astral deal which forbade Bell from re-acquiring properties divested in the sale for 10 years after its completion. On January 23, 2018, Bell Media announced that it had reached licensing agreements with Starz Inc. and Lionsgate , and that TMN Encore would be rebranded under the Starz brand in 2019, featuring its programming. The following month, Bell launched SnackableTV,

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2816-495: The Federal Court of Appeal , or restructuring the deal to selectively sell Astral assets to competing companies. Rogers Media expressed interest in acquiring some of Astral's channels if such a sale were to occur. On November 16, 2012, Astral confirmed that it was in talks with Bell to negotiate a new offer, which would involve the sale of the majority of its English-language television channels to third parties. On March 4, 2013,

2904-572: The Maritimes , the Atlantic Satellite Network (ASN), and a further 14.3% in CTV. CHUM would receive Baton's independent stations in southwestern Ontario, as well as CHRO-TV in Pembroke, which had recently disaffiliated from CTV. The Baton-Electrohome alliance now held 57.2% of CTV. Shortly thereafter, Electrohome announced it would sell its broadcasting assets—including CFRN, its interest in

2992-649: The Standard Broadcasting division after Slaight bought out that company in 1985. As Standard, it remained the largest privately owned multimedia company in Canada until it sold its radio and TV broadcasting assets to Astral Media in 2007. Today, all of Standard Radio stations are either owned by Bell Media or Stingray Radio . The company continues to operate holdings in non-traditional broadcast platforms such as satellite radio and Internet radio . Slaight also continues to hold minority investments in three other small radio station groups. Standard Broadcasting

3080-698: The A station in Wingham, CKNX-TV (which left the air one month prior to CKX and is now a rebroadcaster of the A station in London, CFPL-TV ). CTVglobemedia acquired Toronto station CFXJ-FM from Milestone Radio in 2010. On September 10, 2010, BCE announced plans to re-acquire 100% of the company's broadcasting arm, including CTV Inc. Under the deal, Woodbridge , Torstar , and Teachers' would together receive $ 1.3 billion in either cash or equity in BCE, while BCE would also assume $ 1.7 billion in debt (BCE's existing equity interest

3168-561: The BGM fold. BGM originally announced that CHUM's A-Channel stations, Access , CKX-TV , MusiquePlus , MusiMax , Canadian Learning Television , SexTV: The Channel and BGM's own OLN would not be retained. On September 7, 2006, in order to pay for the CHUM acquisition, BGM sold additional shares to its existing shareholders. BCE did not participate in the refinancing; the net effect was an increase in Teachers' ownership to 25%, while BCE's interest

3256-569: The CRTC approved Bell's acquisition of Astral Media, which closed on July 5, 2013. The deal was subject to conditions, including the requirement for Bell to provide fair treatment to its competitors, to not impose "restrictive bundling practices" on Astral's premium movie channels, invest $ 246.9 million over the next seven years on Canadian-produced programming, and to maintain the operation and local programming levels of all of its television stations through 2017. The CRTC also approved Bell's proposed exemptions for maintaining ownership of CKGM. Following

3344-751: The CRTC for review. However the license was surrendered when Baton was instead able to acquire the local CTV affiliate, CJOH-TV , from Allan Slaight 's Standard Broadcasting . In 1990, Baton purchased the MCTV system of twinstick operations in Pembroke , North Bay , Sudbury , Timmins , and the Huron Broadcasting twinstick in Sault Ste. Marie . In 1993, Baton purchased CFPL-TV in London , CKNX-TV in Wingham and received

3432-472: The CRTC to require that Bell divest The Movie Network, claiming that Bell would make it harder and more expensive for competing service providers to access The Movie Network's content (especially on its own Anyplace TV and on-demand services) if Bell were to own the service. Bell disputed Rogers' claims, stating that the company already had a long-term deal to distribute The Movie Network on its cablesystems, and noted that Rogers had expressed interest in purchasing

3520-583: The CRTC's March 2015 decision to mandate that pay television providers offer a la carte packages, Crull ordered all Bell-owned news properties, including CTV News , not to air any remarks by CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais during reports regarding the decision. Although the CTV News Channel program Power Play and a report aired on the local evening newscasts complied with Crull's order, the CTV National News that night defied Crull's demand by airing

3608-624: The CRTC's choice for the new independent station in Vancouver , beating out four other competitors. The new station, CIVT-TV , would compete directly with Western International Communications 's two CTV affiliates in the market when it was launched that fall. On February 25, 1997, the Baton-Electrohome alliance and CHUM Limited announced that several stations would be swapped between them. Baton-Electrohome would acquire CHUM's Atlantic Television System (ATV), consisting of four CTV affiliates in

Astral Media - Misplaced Pages Continue

3696-620: The French television system V , announced that it would acquire MusiquePlus and MusiMax for an undisclosed amount. Members of the board of directors of Astral prior to the close of the Bell-Astral transaction were: Austin Beutel, Paul Bronfman, André Bureau (chairman), Jack Cockwell, George Cohon , Paul Godfrey , Stephen Greenberg, Ian Greenberg , Sidney Greenberg, Sidney Horn, Timothy Price, Phyllis Yaffe and Monique Jérôme-Forget . Any listing with

3784-406: The acquisition of "substantially all of the assets" of Standard Radio . A formal agreement was later announced, with the proposed transaction being approved by the CRTC on September 28, and completed on October 29 of the same year. The transaction gave Astral Media a significant foothold in English-language radio. In 2010, Astral Media relocated its headquarters to 1800 McGill College Avenue , in

3872-582: The acquisition of all of its issued and outstanding shares by Bell Media on May 24, 2012; the acquisition of Astral Media's issued and outstanding shares by Bell received approval by the Quebec Superior Court during a hearing on May 25, 2012. The proposed sale faced opposition: a coalition of Cogeco , Vidéotron , and Eastlink argued that Bell's market share following the merger would harm consumer choice , and that Bell would raise carriage fees for Astral's channels (impacting smaller providers). During

3960-598: The alliance, and its CTV shares—to Baton in exchange for cash and shares in Baton. These two deals were approved by the CRTC in August. Baton now held controlling interest in CTV, triggering a put option that allowed the other owners to sell their stakes in the network while still keeping their stations. Accordingly, Baton acquired the remaining CTV shares from WIC and Moffat Communications (Newfoundland Broadcasting, owner of CJON-TV , had effectively relinquished its vote when CTV became

4048-695: The approval of the new proposal by the Competition Bureau, Corus Entertainment reached a tentative deal to acquire 2 radio stations ( CJOT , CKQB ), along with Astral's stakes in Historia , Séries+ , and the Teletoon networks from Bell for just over $ 400 million. Corus acquired the stakes in Historia and Séries+ from Shaw Media as well. On January 1, 2014, the acquisition was completed. In 2017, Corus attempted to sell Historia and Séries+ to Bell for $ 200 million, but

4136-500: The assets of which were to be incorporated into Bell Media. The acquisition was primarily centered on Astral's premium services (such as The Movie Network and its stake in HBO Canada ) and its French-language radio and television stations. Bell planned to use Astral's premium offerings to enhance its own multi-platform services to compete against the likes of services such as Netflix , and its French media outlets to better compete against

4224-471: The companies would share ownership of CFCN; Baton's stations in Saskatchewan and its independent stations in southwestern Ontario; and Electrohome's CKCO. The deals doubled Baton's own interest in CTV to 28.6%. However, as part of the deal, Baton took control of Electrohome's CTV vote, allowing it to command 42.9% of CTV's shares. In January 1997, Baton-Electrohome's "Vancouver Television" proposal emerged as

4312-782: The company (later revealed to be Comedy Gold ; however, the sale would later be aborted, leading to the channel's shutdown in 2019) to form a new network targeting children and young adults, and provide children's television content for Bell's over-the-top ventures. As part of the purchase, BCE will take 3.4 million common voting shares in the company. On August 9, 2017, Bell announced that it would acquire Larche Communications ' four Ontario radio stations, pending CRTC approval. On October 17, 2017, Bell Media announced its intent to acquire Historia and Séries+ —two French-language networks whose Astral-owned stakes were divested during its acquisition by Bell—from Corus Entertainment for $ 200 million. On May 28, 2018, both transactions were blocked by

4400-428: The company announced an initial public offering via an income trust ; these plans were later cancelled due to "market conditions". On February 23, 2007, Astral Media announced that it had signed a letter of intent and had entered into exclusive negotiations regarding the acquisition of "substantially all of the assets" of Standard. A formal agreement was later announced, with the proposed transaction being approved by

4488-550: The company directly to obtain an additional 9.9% interest, and it later bought Thomson Corporation's interest. The resulting company (Bell Globemedia) consisted of CTV, The Globe and Mail , and the Internet portal then known as Sympatico - Lycos (Lycos was later replaced by MSN ). Fecan was named the combined firm's president and CEO (a role he remained in for the duration of the BGM/CTVglobemedia era). After Monty resigned and

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4576-519: The company its first stations in Manitoba. On August 26, 2013, Newcap Radio announced its intent to acquire the five aforementioned Toronto and Vancouver stations. Eventually, Newcap was in turn acquired by Stingray Digital Group in 2018. On November 28, 2013, DHX Media announced that it had reached a deal to acquire Family Channel and its sister networks for $ 170 million, the deal was completed in late July 2014. On December 4, 2013, Remstar , owners of

4664-498: The current enterprise traces its origins to the establishment of Bell Globemedia Inc. in 2001 by BCE and the Thomson family , combining CTV Inc. (which BCE had acquired in 2000) and the operations of the Thomson family's newspaper, The Globe and Mail . BCE sold the majority of its interest in 2006 (after which the company was renamed CTVglobemedia Inc. in 2007), but in 2011, BCE acquired

4752-486: The deal by the CRTC, Bell Canada CEO George A. Cope asserted that calling the merger dead was "premature", citing that the formal merger agreement between Bell and Astral did not expire until December 16, 2012, and either company could extend it to January 15, 2013. Bell attempted to ask the Cabinet to overturn the CRTC's decision, but was told that they did not have the ability to do so. Bell also reportedly considered going to

4840-454: The deal even if it were to be approved by the CRTC. On October 18, 2012, the CRTC announced that it had rejected BCE's proposal to acquire Astral Media. The commission cited that their combined market power could "threaten the availability of diverse programming for Canadians and endanger the ability of distribution undertakings to deliver programming at affordable rates and on reasonable terms on multiple platforms", and also stated that allowing

4928-475: The deal was blocked and rejected by the Competition Bureau for violations of conditions forbidding Bell from re-acquiring divested Astral properties for ten years. Bell Media also divested Family , Disney Junior's English and French services, Disney XD , MusiMax , MusiquePlus , and 5 other radio stations in Toronto and Vancouver ( CHBM-FM , CFXJ-FM , CKZZ-FM , CHHR-FM and CISL ) at auction. These divested stations and channels were temporarily held in

5016-405: The dominant Québecor Média . The merger was notably opposed by a coalition of competing cable providers (which included Cogeco , EastLink , and Vidéotron —the last of which is also owned by Québecor Média, who felt that Bell's control of a majority of Canadian media would harm consumer choice, and lead to increased carriage fees which could cripple smaller cable companies. BCE's first proposal

5104-406: The early 1970s. CFTO was one of the charter affiliates of CTV when that network formed in 1961, becoming the network's flagship. In 1966, Baton became a part-owner in the network when it was reorganized as a station-owned cooperative . The Board of Broadcast Governors was initially skeptical about the proposal to turn CTV into a cooperative. Since CFTO was by far the largest and richest station in

5192-540: The entire company (excluding The Globe and Mail ) and changed the name to Bell Media Inc. For all practical purposes, Bell Media is the successor to Baton Broadcasting Incorporated ( / ˈ b eɪ t ɒ n / BAY -ton ), which by the late 1990s had become one of Canada's largest broadcasters. Formed in 1960 as Baton Aldred Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. , the company was originally created to establish Toronto's first private television station, CFTO-TV . The name of this company derived from its initial investors, including

5280-402: The group—a condition that ensured that Bell Satellite TV , Sympatico , and other Bell units continued to have access to Bell Globemedia (BGM) content. The transaction closed on August 30, 2006. This deal put to rest any rumors about a possible breakup of the company. However, Torstar's involvement led to additional media concentration concerns, mainly from media unions . Torstar insisted it

5368-512: The home video and feature film market, lasting from the mid-1980s until at least 1996. In 1987, Astral Film Enterprises had teamed up with Management Company Entertainment Group to produce three feature films by 1988, with the first film slated to be in the co-production pact was Boris and Natasha , Boardwalk , and Villa Golitsyn , which were proposed in the three-picture pact, but the projects, aside from Boris and Natasha were never realized. In 1996, Astral Communications decided to sell all of

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5456-582: The impact of recent regulatory decisions (such as one that prevents the federal simsub rules from being used on the Super Bowl , whose Canadian broadcast rights are currently owned by Bell Media). On February 27, 2017, Turcke left Bell to join the National Football League as president of NFL Media. She was succeeded as president by Randy Lennox . That month, Bell also announced that it had partnered with record executive Scott Borchetta to develop

5544-566: The launch of the first digital specialty channels , including several owned by CTV. The company acquired partial ownership in TQS in 2002, the Sympatico portal was sold back to Bell Canada, while a further investment from the Thomsons (whose ownership increased to 31.5%) funded the acquisition of 15% of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment . However, beginning in 2003, BCE management began to refer to BGM as

5632-414: The merger would have required the implementation of "extensive and intrusive safeguards" across the entire broadcasting industry. The CRTC also felt that Bell did not adequately demonstrate how having most of Canada's French-language media owned by two vertically integrated companies would improve competition, and how being bigger would allow it to compete against foreign services. Following the rejection of

5720-416: The network, the BBG feared Baton would take advantage of this to dominate the network. However, it approved the deal after Baton and the other owners included a provision in the cooperative's bylaws stipulating that the eight station owners would each have a single vote regardless of audience share. Additionally, if one owner ever bought another station, the acquired station's shares would be redistributed among

5808-413: The new proposals began in May 2013. Asserting that it would have to sell or shut down the station without one, Bell organized a petition proposing an exception to the ownership cap that would allow it to maintain ownership of CKGM , under the condition that Bell maintain the TSN Radio format on the station and provide $ 245,000 in funding for local amateur sports and scholarships in sports journalism over

5896-591: The next seven years on Canadian-produced programming, and to maintain the operation and local programming levels of all of its television stations through 2017. The CRTC also approved Bell's proposed exemptions for maintaining ownership of Montreal's CKGM . Bell put Family , Disney XD , the two Disney Junior services, MusiMax , MusiquePlus , and five radio stations up for sale, while Corus Entertainment acquired Historia , Séries+ , and Teletoon from Astral and competitor Shaw Media . On June 6, 2013, Bell announced that Bravo would be its first network to implement

5984-581: The operation of Movie Central , a premium television service that had been granted exclusivity in Western Canada, and cede its regional monopoly to Bell Media's The Movie Network , which was similarly restricted to Eastern Canada, allowing it to become available nationwide in 2016. Bell Media subsequently announced that it had acquired exclusive Canadian rights to all current HBO programming in Canada (rights previously shared with Corus due to its joint venture HBO Canada ). On January 6, 2016, iHeartMedia announced that it had partnered with Bell Media to launch

6072-540: The owner and operator of Internet radio portal Iceberg Radio , which was subsequently also sold to Astral in a separate transaction. The company is still a partner, along with Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings , Sirius XM Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , in Sirius XM Canada . The company also retained its minority shares in the Haliburton , Milestone and Martz radio groups, although all three groups have since sold off many or all of their assets as well. Standard's minority share in 3937844 Canada

6160-716: The position, Turcke was criticized for remarks that considered the use of virtual private network services to evade geo-blocking and access the U.S. version of subscription video on demand service Netflix to be "stealing". In late August 2015, Bell Media began a series of layoffs, which included directors and vice presidents. On November 6, 2015, additional layoffs of 380 jobs from production, editorial, sales, and administrative roles in Toronto and Montreal were revealed. On November 17, 2015, further cuts were made, which included high-profile on-air talent from radio and television properties in Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. On November 20, 2015, Corus announced that it would wind down

6248-419: The previous deal, which would have given Bell a 42% share of the English-language television market, the new deal gave Bell a total market share of 35.7%, and increased its French-language market share to 22% (in comparison to 8% before). On March 18, 2013, the Competition Bureau cleared a proposed deal to sell Astral's stakes in several channels to Corus Entertainment in preparation for regulatory approval. In

6336-453: The program development and distribution divisions to Coscient Group . In February 2000, Astral Communications changed its name to Astral Media. Astral then expanded into radio, beginning with the 2000 acquisition of Radiomutuel, and the 2002 purchase of most of the radio assets of Telemedia , although those companies' joint AM radio network Radiomedia was ultimately sold to Corus Entertainment for competitive reasons. Radiomutuel also owned

6424-506: The remaining owners so that each owner would still have one vote out of eight. In 1972, Baton began purchasing other CTV affiliates, starting with CFQC-TV in Saskatoon . This did not, however, give Baton a substantially higher investment in CTV, since its shares were redistributed among the other owners. As a result, Baton still had only one vote out of eight. In 1987, Baton began a concerted effort to take over CTV. It started this drive with

6512-443: The service if it were to be divested. Bell indicated that it would not go ahead with the deal if it were forced by the CRTC to sell additional media outlets. Rogers also showed interest in making a "reasonable offer" to purchase CKGM as a complement to its recently acquired TV station CJNT-DT . Under Rogers ownership, CKGM would have kept its sports talk format, but as a Sportsnet Radio station instead of TSN Radio. On June 27, 2013,

6600-439: The service to cannibalize its linear television business, because its content "[would not] exist if you didn't have the traditional TV system. So you really can't sustainably have one without the other." On April 9, 2015, Crull stepped down as president of Bell Media, and was replaced by Mary Ann Turcke , the subsidiary's former head of media sales. The move came following allegations reported by The Globe and Mail that, after

6688-695: The two into a new media venture, Bell Globemedia Inc ( BGM ). This venture was masterminded by former Bell Canada chief executive Jean Monty , largely as a response to Canwest 's purchase of the Southam newspaper chain as well as the trend of media convergence , particularly the AOL-Time Warner merger. Monty believed that to survive in a changing technological landscape, and in particular to drive subscriptions to satellite television provider Bell ExpressVu and internet service provider Bell Sympatico , BCE had to have control over content. The transaction

6776-410: Was $ 200 million, for a total transaction value of $ 3.2 billion). Woodbridge would also regain majority control of The Globe and Mail Inc., with BCE retaining a 15% interest. The overall deal was expected to close by April 2011. However, the sale of The Globe , which did not require CRTC approval, was completed in late December 2010. The deal was approved by the CRTC on March 7, 2011, and the company

6864-567: Was announced as the buyer of the Citytv stations on June 11, 2007, and the CHUM acquisition was finalized on June 22. Subsequently, CTVglobemedia, Inc. sold off its interests in various non-core channels. Rogers purchased several of these assets, including CTV's 33% interest in OLN in late 2007, as well as radio stations CHST-FM in London, Ontario and CHBN-FM in Edmonton , Alberta in 2010. Corus Entertainment would acquire Canadian Learning Television , Cooking Channel , and Drive-In Classics for

6952-520: Was committed to maintaining the editorial independence of the Globe and its own Toronto Star , and ultimately there were no major regulatory hurdles due to this. On July 12, 2006, BGM announced a friendly bid to take over CHUM Limited for an estimated $ 1.7 billion. The acquisition would bring the secondary broadcast system ( Citytv ), other stations including CablePulse24 , MuchMusic , Star! , Bravo! , and Space , and all of CHUM's radio stations, into

7040-458: Was constituted in 1973 under the name Astral Bellevue Pathé Limited. It eventually undertook videocassette duplication and video wholesaling . The company also produced or executive produced over 100 feature films , television programs and television miniseries . The films were released by American Cinema Releasing . The company had operated such subsidiaries as Astral Films, Astral Film Productions Ltd. and Astral Video, as well as in 1987,

7128-444: Was denied by the CRTC in October 2012; the commission believed that the combined company would have had too much market power. Soon afterward, Bell and Astral began to negotiate a second proposal that would involve selling most of Astral's English-language television channels in order to quell fears by the CRTC. On March 18, 2013, the Competition Bureau cleared the revised proposal. Unlike the previous deal, which would have given Bell

7216-481: Was founded as Standard Radio Manufacturing in 1925 by Edward S. Rogers, Sr. , but soon became known as Rogers Vacuum Tube Company and later became the Rogers Majestic Corporation Limited. Rogers launched what would become radio station CFRB in 1927 in order to demonstrate a batteryless alternating current radio receiver he had invented. In 1929 Standard Radio Manufacturing Corporation

7304-648: Was officially closed on April 1, 2011. It was renamed as Bell Media Inc . On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to BCE and its rival, Rogers Communications , in a deal valued at around $ 1.32 billion. Additionally, Larry Tanenbaum increased his stake in the company to 25%. The deal closed in August 2012. On March 16, 2012, BCE announced that it had entered in an agreement to acquire Montreal -based broadcaster Astral Media for an estimated value of $ 3.38 billion;

7392-419: Was purchased by Argus Corporation and in 1966 Standard Radio Limited was renamed Standard Broadcasting. Argus was acquired by Conrad Black and his brother in 1978. Argus subsequently sold Standard to Slaight in 1985 and merged into Slaight Broadcasting. As Standard, the company under Slaight operated 82 radio stations in English Canada and two television stations in northern British Columbia . It also owned

7480-410: Was reduced to 15%. As a result of BCE's reduced ownership in the company, Bell Globemedia was renamed CTVglobemedia Inc. on January 1, 2007. In April of that year, Rogers Communications announced a tentative deal to purchase A-Channel , CKX-TV , Access Alberta , Canadian Learning Television , and Cooking Channel from CTVglobemedia, if its purchase of CHUM was approved. Astral Media made

7568-530: Was renamed as Rogers Majestic Corporation Limited The broadcasting division of the company was renamed Standard Radio Limited in 1941 when the Rogers family sold off the assets of Rogers Majestic two years after the death of Edward Rogers. The Rogers family would later re-enter the broadcasting business in 1960 in a form of Aldred-Rogers Broadcasting , the company founded by Edward's son, Ted Rogers , which later became Rogers Communications . In 1945, Standard Radio

7656-613: Was replaced by Michael Sabia in 2002, it became clear that Monty's vision was not producing anything near the desired results, notwithstanding the good results for the individual units, particularly the CTV network. The following years provided a few cosmetic changes in BGM's assets. In 2001, CTV acquired CKY-TV in Winnipeg and CFCF-TV in Montreal, and moved the CTV affiliation in British Columbia to CIVT, replacing two affiliates that had been purchased by Canwest. That fall also brought

7744-424: Was structured as follows. In 2000, BCE acquired CTV Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at CA$ 2.3 billion. Soon after, Monty arranged to have Thomson Corporation transfer control of The Globe and Mail , the Toronto -based national newspaper, to BCE in exchange for a significant interest (20%) in the merged CTV/ Globe entity. The Thomson family's holding company ( The Woodbridge Company Limited ) invested in

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