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54-804: The company later sold off all of its original assets, and continued to operate its radio holdings through 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

108-577: 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

162-567: 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

216-537: 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 , 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

270-514: 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

324-497: 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. Sirius XM Canada Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. (commonly referred to as Sirius XM Canada ; normally stylized SiriusXM ) is a Canadian broadcasting company which distributes the services of American satellite radio provider Sirius XM in Canada. The current company

378-731: 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

432-603: A minority shareholder in both of the Canadian companies simultaneously, such as conflicts of interest that forced the American company to leave its Canadian partners out of strategic planning discussions which would have given each company power over decisions affecting the other. On November 24, 2010, XM Radio Canada and Sirius Canada announced that they had reached a deal to merge their services. John Bitove 's Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. held 30.4% and effective control of

486-470: A partnership between CHUM Limited and Astral Media . The CHUM/Astral partnership proposed a service fed by terrestrial transmitters instead of satellites, and never launched. Both Sirius Canada and XM Canada launched in late 2005. Following the 2008 merger of Sirius and XM in the U.S., the two Canadian companies did not immediately announce plans to merge, and continued to compete in the Canadian marketplace. A complicating factor in any Canadian merger talks

540-592: A result of the transaction, though CBC channels continued to be broadcast on the SiriusXM platform. In October 2022, CBC-programmed music channels were removed from SiriusXM and replaced with Canadian music channels programmed directly by SiriusXM Canada; feeds of CBC Radio One and Ici Radio-Canada Première continue to air on SiriusXM. In October 2024, the CRTC approved the transfer of shares owned by Slaight Communications—owned by Allan Slaight , who died in 2021—directly to Allan's son Gary Slaight . Sirius XM Canada

594-497: 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

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648-477: 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,

702-570: 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

756-808: 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

810-522: Is the Canadian distributor of the namesake SiriusXM satellite radio and streaming platforms. Officially, Sirius Canada and XM Canada remain separate satellite radio services, though since 2012 operated under a single licence, under the authority of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). This distinction is due to technical differences between the two platforms which may result in minor programming variations between

864-792: 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 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,

918-569: 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

972-531: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , and U.S.-based Sirius Satellite Radio. XM Satellite Radio Canada was the operating name of Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., a company formed in 2002 by John Bitove in partnership with Sirius' U.S. competitor, XM Satellite Radio. Following the receipt of applications in 2003 and 2004, in June 2005, the CRTC issued six-year licenses to three companies to introduce subscription radio service to Canada: Sirius Canada, XM Canada, and

1026-442: 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

1080-498: 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,

1134-571: 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

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1188-472: 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

1242-429: The CRTC, XM Canada and Sirius Canada noted that following the U.S. merger, they found it increasingly difficult to remain in operation as distinct, competing services in Canada even as the parent services increasingly integrated and amalgamated their programming. In an interview with The Globe and Mail before the merger was approved, Bitove also noted the difficulties that arose from the merged American service becoming

1296-555: The Canadian-produced channels being among the few remaining distinctions between the two services; eventually the Canadian channels were also harmonized between services. Premier packages became available in Canada on October 1, 2012. In 2016, Sirius XM Canada, which had had its shares publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange , announced a privatization ("go-private") and recapitalization transaction whereby three of

1350-621: 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

1404-409: The SiriusXM app, as are all of SiriusXM's "Xtra" channels. Packaging generally mirrors that of the American service. As of April 2024 , available plans consist of three tiers of cross-platform (satellite and streaming) channels and functionality, as well as an app-only "All Access" plan. Certain plans include streaming "artist stations", which until late 2023 were branded as being powered by Pandora ,

1458-651: The U.S. or elsewhere) in each of its packages, of which at least one must be an Indigenous channel, and several must be French-language channels. On these channels, at least 85% of musical selections and 85% of spoken-word content must be Canadian content. The service must also make significant ongoing financial contributions to Canadian content development. From time to time, these rules have resulted in certain American channels being unavailable on satellite radio to SiriusXM Canada subscribers. These channel restrictions do not apply to SiriusXM's streaming platforms, and (subject to program rights conflicts) all are available through

1512-466: 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

1566-585: 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

1620-695: 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

1674-438: The broadcaster's largest shareholders – Slaight Communications, John Bitove's Obelysk Media, and Sirius XM U.S. – would buy out the remaining public shareholders. The transaction was completed the next year, following CRTC approval, following which Sirius XM took a 70% equity interest in the Canadian firm but only 33% of voting shares, with the remainder split between Slaight and Obelysk. The CBC exited its ownership position as

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1728-427: 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

1782-523: 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

1836-486: 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

1890-455: 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

1944-526: 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

1998-517: 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 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,

2052-513: 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

2106-415: 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

2160-478: The new company. Slaight Communications and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the primary shareholders in the former Sirius, each held 20.4%, and the American parent Sirius XM held 25%. Both Bitove and Mark Redmond, the former president and CEO of Sirius Canada, hold executive roles with the new company. As of 2011, Sirius and XM in the United States offered nearly identical programming lineups, with

2214-511: 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

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2268-648: 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

2322-422: 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

2376-427: The primary Canadian investors of the original Sirius Canada and XM Canada services respectively; Slaight Communications' interest was later inherited by Gary Slaight . Due to Canadian broadcasting ownership regulations, the U.S. company Sirius XM Holdings is limited to a 33% voting interest in the Canadian firm, but holds 70% of the equity. Sirius Canada was a Canadian-based partnership between Slaight Communications,

2430-454: 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

2484-446: 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,

2538-504: The two services, despite the fact that most programming has been harmonized since the U.S. and Canadian mergers. As it uses the same infrastructure as SiriusXM U.S., the Canadian service cannot program a full set of channels that adheres to the same Canadian content rules as traditional radio stations. Instead, under the terms of its CRTC licence, SiriusXM Canada must offer a minimum of 10% Canadian-produced channels (i.e., at least one Canadian channel for every nine channels originating from

2592-449: Was a Canadian media conglomerate . It was Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 84 radio stations in eight provinces. Astral was also a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, with 23 specialty channels and two conventional stations. In addition, Astral had a presence in out-of-home advertising . In March 2012, Bell Media announced its intent to acquire Astral for $ 3.38 billion. Although an attempt to purchase

2646-569: Was also not transferred to Astral, but was wholly acquired by its majority owner, Newcap Broadcasting , in a separate transaction which also took place in 2007. In 2010, the company invested in Mediazoic, a webcasting software project. Slaight Communications owns a 7.19% stake in Fight Holdings, a minority partner in Anthem Sports & Entertainment . Astral Media Astral Media Inc.

2700-457: Was formed on June 21, 2011, following the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission 's April 2011 approval to merge the formerly distinct XM Radio Canada and Sirius Canada services. This followed the 2008 merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio in the United States. Following a subsequent privatization transaction, majority voting control was split between Slaight Communications and John Bitove , two of

2754-479: 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

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2808-418: 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

2862-530: 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

2916-513: Was that Sirius Canada had far more than half of the total satellite radio subscriber base in Canada, and felt they deserved greater than a 50/50 split of the new company, whereas XM Canada felt that their deal with the National Hockey League — a particularly lucrative prize in Canadian sports broadcasting — warranted a larger share of value in the new company than its subscriber base would suggest. However, in their eventual application to

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