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58-519: This channel was originally established in 2001 as CTV Travel by its original owner Bell Globemedia as an offshoot of CTV Television Network with its programming devoted to travel and adventure. After a number of numerous ownership changes throughout the years, the channel was renamed to its current name in 2018 and adopted its current format. On November 24, 2000, a general partnership consisting of BCE Media Inc./Groupe TVA Inc. (owning 51%) and CTV Television Inc. (owning 49%) were granted approval by

116-653: 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

174-694: 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

232-535: 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

290-628: 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

348-456: 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 ,

406-714: 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

464-724: 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

522-652: 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

580-624: 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

638-471: 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

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696-495: 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

754-697: 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

812-466: 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

870-405: A streaming video app with short-form content from Bell Media properties and other sources. Telegram Corporation Telegram Corporation was a Canadian media company created under a joint venture between John W. H. Bassett 's Toronto Telegram newspaper and businessman John David Eaton (a member of the prominent Eaton family ), as one of three co-owners of CFTO-TV in 1960. When

928-498: 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

986-507: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch Travel TV , described as a "national English-language Category 1 specialty television service... consisting exclusively of travel or travel-related programming. The service will explore the world within and beyond Canada’s borders. Programs will address various segments of the population and all types of travel, including those focusing on adventure, outdoor, sporting, cultural and historical interests." The channel

1044-605: 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,

1102-572: 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

1160-581: The Toronto Telegram was shut down in 1971, the company was renamed Baton Broadcasting Incorporated (after the Ba ssett and Ea ton families). Baton Broadcasting was renamed once again to Baton Broadcast System (BBS) in 1994. The Eatons sold their media stake in 1998, and the Bassetts retained sole control of BBS. That same year, BBS was renamed CTV . *Currently being sold to other owners pending approval of

1218-698: 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

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1276-561: 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

1334-751: 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

1392-583: 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

1450-624: 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

1508-538: The Manor . On June 8, 2010, it was announced the channel would be sold to Glassbox Television . The sale was approved by the CRTC on October 26 and closed shortly thereafter. On April 11, 2011, it was announced that Blue Ant Media would acquire a controlling interest in Glassbox Television. Blue Ant Media initially acquired a 29.9% stake in the company, with the option to expand their stake up to 75% which would give

1566-598: 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

1624-500: 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

1682-462: The channel would further shift its focus away from travel-based series to general-interest adventure and exploration based programming., In March 2018, Travel + Escape was renamed T+E , as part of a full shift to supernatural and paranormal programming. 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,

1740-411: The channel, described by its owner, a new "edgier" look and feel to fit its new shift in programming the channel had already been making towards more character-driven and experienced-based travel series rather than the typical travelogue programs. New programs introduced to the channel included such series as Dead Famous , The Pleasure Zone , Hunt for Supertwister , The Amazing Race , and Mayhem at

1798-471: 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

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1856-782: 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

1914-478: The company controlling interest. On October 5, 2011, Glassbox Television announced that Travel + Escape would undergo a major overhaul on November 1, 2011. The overhaul included a new logo, on-air presentation, and a slate of new programming. On December 15, 2011, Travel + Escape launched a high definition feed. In the Summer of 2012, Glassbox Television would be fully acquired by Blue Ant Media. Under their ownership,

1972-550: 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

2030-557: The company was founded in 1960 as Telegram Corporation , 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

2088-405: 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

2146-406: 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

2204-540: 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

2262-402: 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

2320-582: 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

2378-566: 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

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2436-462: 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

2494-591: 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

2552-687: 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

2610-548: The owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada ). Its operations include national television broadcasting and production (including 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

2668-815: 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

2726-506: 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

2784-439: 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

2842-695: 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

2900-410: 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

2958-567: 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

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3016-520: 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

3074-505: 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

3132-449: Was launched on September 7, 2001, as CTV Travel under the sole ownership of CTV Television Inc (now a wholly-owned division of what is now Bell Media ). Programming on the channel consisted of docu-series devoted to travel such as Jet Set , Exotic Islands , Places of Mystery , and Full Circle with Michael Palin . On October 30, 2006, CTV Travel was renamed Travel + Escape (stylized as travel + escape until October 5, 2011) to give

3190-648: 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;

3248-410: 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

3306-664: 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

3364-473: 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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