Late last week, the CRTC ordered CTVglobemedia to sell off the five Citytv properties it acquired in its purchase of CHUM Ltd., because CTV already operates over-the-air stations in those markets (Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg). This morning it was announced that Rogers Media would be purchasing those stations for $375 million, because it's apparently not a problem for them to have more than one over-the-air station in a given market.
This afternoon, the Toronto Star reported that Rogers intends to move Citytv from Queen and John to another location yet to be determined. MuchMusic, Bravo!, Space, and the other channels housed at 299 Queen West will be staying put, however, as they will remain under the ownership of CTVglobemedia, which isn't letting go of the building. This puts CP24 in a particularly precarious position: despite being inextricable from CityNews, it's not part of the deal with Rogers, and it's unlikely that CTV enjoys paying to run multiple 24-hour news networks.
If nothing else, Torontoist can't help but wonder what this will all mean for Citytv's Washington, D.C. operations.
Photo by Samer Farha from the Torontoist Flickr pool.
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Why don't we just cut to the chase and merge Rogers and CanWest and CTV and Shaw and Quebecor into one company, saving us from having to pick between competing newspapers, tv channels, and internet providers? Surely Canada would be better off, or the CRTC wouldn't be marching us down that path.
Right?
TORONTOIST GLADLY WELCOMES ITS NEW OWNER/MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR INVESTOR, ROGERS.
Torogersist is born.
I, for one, welcome our new telecom conglomerate overlords.
Let's see if a campaign to save the City newstruck starts.
I fear moves like this are all small steps toward completely opening up Canadian media to foreign ownership, so there with be this one big Canadian Media Corporation to square off against Rupert Murdoch and Disney...
Are my fears misplaced, or is the CRTC selling us (consumercitizens) out one maple leaf at a time -- first to our own evil media conglomerates, then to foreign conglomos?
While there are many things I love the Canadian government for (compared to the US gov't, of course), one thing Canada is really weak on is monopolies.
I am glad something is being done about the media monopoly, but it seems not only the wrong solution, but "too little, too late". :/
Kevin - one thing I've learned about the history of media concentration in this country is that we know and fully admit that it's a problem, but never actually DO anything about it.
Really all that ever happens is a Royal Commision (Kent, Davey, etc) is called every ten years to study the problem. They always recommend some good solutions, and said solutions are always ignored by the House of Commons. Either that, or token resolutions are passed that really don't address any sort of big picture. Fun!
Sigh. Every day, I feel more and more like a lowly Stormtrooper, just doing my job in the Death Star, oblivious to that cute little planet that we seem to be gaining on...
If traditional media is doomed, why the wailing? They're just collecting all the deck chairs on a sinking ship, are they not?
Matt Katz....love the Kent Brockman reference ;P