Bell Globemedia announced yesterday that it had reached an agreement to acquire CHUM Ltd, owners of 33 radio stations, a dozen TV stations under the CITY and A-Channel brands as well as 21 specialty stations, such as Much Music, Space and Bravo.
As I commented on Jon Arnold’s blog, while this transaction certainly adds size to CTV’s holdings, it will be a real question for the CRTC to deal with issues associated with concentration of ownership.
The combined organization will have overlapping properties in many major markets and will control music television in Canada, combining Much Music with the new MTV Canada.
The Globe and Mail reports that a number of stations will be shed (Ottawa, Barrie, London, Victoria) but that will still leave overlap in a number of markets.
With a newly converged Commission organization chart and calls for regulatory symmetry (in dealing with broadcast and telecom issues), will the CRTC permit the level of flexibility being sought in approving this deal? Not likely before it completes its review of the current (1999) policy for broadcasting which states:
The Commission will continue its current policy which generally permits ownership of no more than one over-the-air television station in one language in a given market.
Hold onto your hat! But watch for more consolidation activity as the trading begins.
Greg O’Brien of CARTT.ca writes:
Whatever happens, look for the CRTC to have a very open mind when it comes to the hearings into additional TV stations in Calgary and Edmonton, for example. With so many existing stations looking like they may be in the hands of just two players, the sometimes-activist Commission just might want to add more transmitters in the growing economy out west.
He also asks about the 10% “tangible benefits” tax that the CRTC seeks when approving such transactions.
By the way, I wonder what the impact of this deal will be on various mobile programs that target the youth market: Much Music and Rogers. We have seen stranger bedfellows emerge from M&A; activity.