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Many media organizations that once sought out to expand their empires have since scaled back amid declining revenues and changing demands. (iStock)Changing "platform" demands, coupled with squeezed revenues, have dramatically changed the media landscape in recent years. Many companies tried to diversify, though for some this has resulted in financial disarray, forcing sales of less profitable holdings.
Here is a summary of some of the major Canadian media players.
Astral Media began its corporate life in 1961 as Angreen Photo Inc., a photofinishing concession in Miracle Mart Stores. It acquired Bellevue Photo labs two years later. It went public in 1971 as Astral Communications and launched several pay TV and specialty channels through the 1980s and '90s. In 1999, it bought the radio and TV properties of Radiomutuel and followed that with the purchase of 17 Telemedia radio stations in 2002.
Publicly traded Astral Media now owns 29 radio stations in Quebec and the Maritimes and 17 pay television and specialty TV stations (including The Movie Network, Mpix, Family Channel and half of Teletoon).
In April 2007, Astral Media announced a $1.08-billion cash and stock deal to acquire 52 radio stations and two TV stations from Standard Broadcasting.
It's not a big media player nationally but the giant Irving company in New Brunswick operates the closest thing to a print media monopoly in Canada. It owns all three of the English-language daily newspapers in the province as well as a handful of weeklies. The lack of significant print competition has often been cited by critics, who say it doesn't foster rigorous reporting of the Irving family's other extensive business interests in New Brunswick.
Calgary-based cable-TV operator Shaw Communications Inc. has moved a step closer to completing its purchase of Canwest's television assets by reaching an agreement to buy the stake held by U.S. investment firm Goldman Sachs. Shaw said it will pay $700 million to buy Canwest's specialty television channels, controlled by Goldman Sachs under a 2007 agreement when it supported Canwest in acquiring the Alliance Atlantis properties.
In 2000, Canwest bought 28 newspapers from Hollinger Inc. in what was, at the time, the biggest media deal in Canadian history. It now owns 11 of Canada's biggest dailies (including the National Post, the Gazette in Montreal, the Ottawa Citizen and both of Vancouver's dailies, the Vancouver Sun and the Vancouver Province) though the company's creditors have placed the papers up for auction. Bidding closed on April 30. Torstar Corp. has confirmed it is in the running to buy the newspaper assets of insolvent Canwest Global Communications.
Canwest also owns the web portals Canada.com, working.com and dose.ca.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster, was created as a Crown corporation in 1936. It operates radio and TV broadcasting network and regional services in every province and territory. It broadcasts in both official languages and in eight aboriginal languages.
In addition to its two over-the-air TV networks, the corporation operates three specialty TV channels (CBC News Network, RDI, Bold and Documentary).
Radio Canada International broadcasts programming via shortwave around the world in nine languages. CBC/Radio-Canada also operates a variety of websites, including CBC.ca, and is a 40 per cent partner in the Sirius Canada satellite radio service.
Founded by Allan Waters, CHUM Ltd. acquired its first AM radio stations in Toronto in 1954. It acquired more AM and FM stations in the 1960s and ventured into television in 1968 with the purchase of CKVR-TV in Barrie, Ont. It added more TV and radio stations in the 1970s, buying Toronto's Citytv in 1978. Through the 1980s and '90s, it branched into specialty TV channels, launching MuchMusic and Bravo!, among others.
CHUM bought the TV assets of Craig Media in 2004, selling one Toronto station to satisfy CRTC ownership concentration concerns. In 2006, it agreed to be bought by Bell Globemedia (now CTVglobemedia) for $1.7 billion. In June 2007, the CRTC approved the sale but told CTVglobemedia it must sell the five Citytv stations that were part of the deal. Rogers Media subsequently bought them.
Corus Entertainment was created from media properties originally owned by Shaw Communications. It was spun off as a separate, publicly traded company in 1999.
Corus owns 50 radio stations, three local TV stations, a variety of specialty TV channels (including YTV, Treehouse, W Network, CMT and Telelatino), the Movie Central pay TV service, the Nelvana animation group and the children's publisher, Kids Can Press.
Formerly known as Bell Globemedia, it was renamed on Jan. 1, 2007. BCE bought CTV Inc. in early 2000 for $2 billion. Months later, it struck a $4-billion alliance with Thomson Corp. that shook the Canadian media world. The idea was to combine a huge range of broadcasting, publishing and online media properties to take advantage of convergence opportunities. CTVglobemedia is now owned by BCE, Torstar Corp., the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Woodbridge Co., the private holding company of the Thomson family.
CTVglobemedia owns the CTV network and its 27 TV affiliates and has full or partial ownership of 30 specialty TV channels (including TSN, Discovery Channel, The Comedy Network and Business News Network), the Globe and Mail and several web properties. Its 2006 purchase of CHUM Ltd. was approved by the CRTC in June 2007 but was conditional on CTVglobemedia selling the five Citytv stations it would acquire in the deal. It later sold the five Citytv stations to Rogers Media.
Gesca is the media subsidiary of Power Corp. It owns seven French-language dailies (including La Presse in Montreal and Le Droit in Ottawa). Three of its dailies were acquired in 2000, when it bought Unimedia from Hollinger. It also owns a half-interest in the job-search website, Workopolis.
Glacier Media Inc., a B.C.-based company, publishes and prints trade magazines and community and daily papers including the Assiniboia Times, the Hudson Bay Post Review and the Humboldt Journal.
MBS Radio began life in 1969 as Eastern Broadcasting Ltd. The privately held company owns 25 radio stations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
Ted Rogers started Rogers Radio Broadcasting in the early 1960s, adding AM and FM stations in Toronto and venturing into the cable business by the late '60s. Rogers bought control of the Canadian Cablesystems in 1979 and bought Premier Communications the following year, making Rogers the biggest cable company in Canada. It entered the wireless phone business in 1985 as Rogers Cantel and bought a major stake in Unitel (formerly CNCP Telecommunications) in 1989. It bought magazine publisher Maclean Hunter in 1994. It combined its new magazine properties with its radio and TV assets to form Rogers Media Inc.
Rogers Media now owns several over-the-air and specialty TV channels (including OMNI, Rogers Sportsnet and The Shopping Channel), 53 radio stations and such magazines as Maclean's, Chatelaine, Canadian Business, and Flare.
In June 2007, Rogers Media paid $375 million for five Citytv stations in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. The stations had been owned by CHUM Ltd. and were part of CHUM's $1.7-billion purchase by CTVglobemedia. But the CRTC ordered CTVglobemedia to sell the Citytv stations because of competition concerns. Rogers Media quickly snapped them up.
Quebecor Media has grown to become one of the country's biggest media companies, largely through acquisitions. Started by Pierre Péladeau in 1950, Quebecor became a national media company in 1999 with the purchase of Sun Media's newspapers in 1999. It now owns eight dailies and 200 other local and community papers. It also owns Canoe.ca, a popular web portal.
In 2000, Quebecor trumped an offer from Rogers Communications and paid $5.4 billion for Quebec's largest cable company, Videotron, and its French-language TV network, TVA. The company created its Quebecor Media subsidiary in the wake of that acquisition. It's also a major publisher of French-language books.
Beginning in June 2007, Quebecor Media became embroiled in a takeover fight for Osprey Media Income Fund — a major publisher of newspapers and magazines, including dailies the Kingston Whig-Standard and the Peterborough Examiner. After seeing its initial bid topped by Victoria's Black Press Ltd., Quebecor failed in its bid to get a court order blocking the Black bid. Quebecor retaliated with a sweeter bid that was accepted by Osprey.
Calgary-based cable-TV operator Shaw Communications Inc. has moved a step closer to completing its purchase of Canwest's television assets by reaching an agreement to buy the stake held by U.S. investment firm Goldman Sachs. Shaw said it will pay $700 million to buy Canwest's specialty television channels, controlled by Goldman Sachs under a 2007 agreement when it supported Canwest in acquiring the Alliance Atlantis properties.
Torstar Corp. publishes the Toronto Star, the Record in Kitchener-Waterloo, the Hamilton Spectator and the Guelph Mercury. The company also publishes 95 community newspapers in southern Ontario. Torstar owns a half interest in the job-search website Workopolis, along with several other web properties, including Toronto.com. It also has a half-interest in Sing Tao, Canada's largest Chinese-language daily.
Canada's shifting media landscape has resulted in some unusual ownership alliances. For instance, Torstar owns 20 per cent of CTVglobemedia, the owner of the Toronto Star's rival, the Globe and Mail. The company also owns a 19.35 per cent share of Black Press, which publishes more than 150 daily and weekly papers in Canada and the U.S. Torstar is also in the running to buy the newspaper assets of insolvent Canwest Global Communications.
Transcontinental Media is Canada's second-largest publisher of local and regional newspapers and is a major publisher of consumer and specialty magazines. It's a wholly owned subsidiary of Transcontinental Inc., which is the country's largest commercial printer.
Transcontinental owns 12 daily newspapers (including the Moose Jaw Times-Herald, the Guardian of Charlottetown and the Daily News in Halifax), and more than 200 other papers. It also publishes more than 40 magazines and specialty publications (including Canadian Living, Homemakers, Style at Home and The Hockey News).
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