Canadian broadcasting: A-Channel (and stuff) goes to... Rogers! $137.5-million

Post by Taylor
First thing: CHANGE THE
NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (The) A-
Channel (name) has (((always))) sucked. Bring back The New VR, The New
RO, The New PL, The New WI, The New NX, The New VI!
http://news.google.ca/news?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLJ_enUS215US215&q=a-channel&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wn
Rogers to Acquire Televison Assets From CTVglobemedia
Rogers Media and CTVglobemedia Inc. today announced an agreement under
which Rogers Broadcasting, a Rogers Media subsidiary, would acquire
certain Canadian conventional and specialty television services from
CTVglobemedia Inc. These assets are currently under the control of Mr.
John D. McKellar, C.M., Q.C., Trustee under a Voting Trust Agreement
in respect of CHUM Limited. CHUM Limited and Mr. McKellar are also
parties to this agreement.
This transaction is subject to Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission and Competition Bureau approval. The
agreement is also subject to CRTC approval of CTVgm's acquisition of
CHUM Limited, which included a commitment to divest these assets.
The all cash transaction is valued at $137.5 million and includes the
-The A-Channel station group of six over-the-air conventional
broadcast television stations including CIVI Victoria, CHWI Windsor,
CKNX Wingham, CFPL London, CKVR Barrie, and CHRO Ottawa

Wonder what that means for the A-Channels in other cities such Calgary and
Edmonton. They can die as far as I'm concerned as I never watch the
A-Channel I have now.

Post by Taylor
-CKX-Television, an over-the-air conventional CBC affiliate based in
Brandon, Manitoba broadcasting CBC, local and syndicated programming
to Western Manitoba and Eastern Saskatchewan
-ACCESS Alberta, the designated provincial educational television
broadcaster for Alberta, available over-the-air and via cable,
satellite and telco distributors

This is weird/interesting. As far as I know, Rogers has no cable operations
in Alberta. But this is another station that should die. It used to be
educational and good. But how they can claim to be educational when they
show Law & Order (all varieties it seems) reruns and stuff like Who Wants to
be a Millionaire is beyond me.

Post by Taylor
-CLT (Canadian Learning Television), Canada's only national
educational television specialty service designed to inform, enrich
and educate, available via cable, satellite and telco distributors

This really needs to die. Worse crap than Access.

Post by Taylor
-SexTV: The Channel, an English language digital specialty service,
dedicated to love, romance, marriage, relationships, sexuality and
gender issues, available across Canada via cable, satellite and telco
distributors.

Code for soft core porn. They should ask cable companies to add this to
basic cable. At least give subscribers some value for the outrageous fees
they ask to pay.

Post by Taylor
"Rogers has built its successful television business by serving
community-focused and niche audiences," said Rael Merson, President,
Rogers
Broadcasting. "The acquisition of these 10 television services will
significantly expand our television operations and solidify our
position as an important participant in the Canadian television
industry. This also
complements our strong position in Canadian radio, sports broadcasting
and publishing."

And crying to the government and CRTC doesn't hurt their success either.
Harper should kill the CRTC and become a national hero. Very few people
relatively speaking would bemoan the loss of that North Korean-style
organization.

Post by Taylor
"These important stations are run by very talented people and we are
delighted to have been able to find them a wonderful home at Rogers
Broadcasting," said Ivan Fecan, CTVglobemedia President and Chief
Executive Officer and CEO of CTV Inc. "Rogers is a highly respected
Canadian media company. They are great builders and as such, are an
excellent fit as the purchaser of these assets. I know they will
continue to grow the specialty channels and apply their significant
expertise, financial resources and
commitment to conventional tv to ensure the A-Channel local stations
not only survive, but thrive. This acquisition will both provide for
diversity of local voices and give Rogers the scale to emerge as the
fourth national English
language over the air player together with CTV, CanWest and the CBC."
http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=67466&issue=04092007

Just don't ask TV viewers to compensate you for flushing $137.5 million down
the toilet. And we need a fourth national network like we need more French
language stations stuffed down our throats in the West.

Brian

Taylor

2007-04-10 01:31:02 UTC

Post by Taylor
First thing: CHANGE THE
NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (The) A-
Channel (name) has (((always))) sucked. Bring back The New VR, The New
RO, The New PL, The New WI, The New NX, The New VI!
http://news.google.ca/news?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLJ_en...
Rogers to Acquire Televison Assets From CTVglobemedia
Rogers Media and CTVglobemedia Inc. today announced an agreement under
which Rogers Broadcasting, a Rogers Media subsidiary, would acquire
certain Canadian conventional and specialty television services from
CTVglobemedia Inc. These assets are currently under the control of Mr.
John D. McKellar, C.M., Q.C., Trustee under a Voting Trust Agreement
in respect of CHUM Limited. CHUM Limited and Mr. McKellar are also
parties to this agreement.
This transaction is subject to Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission and Competition Bureau approval. The
agreement is also subject to CRTC approval of CTVgm's acquisition of
CHUM Limited, which included a commitment to divest these assets.
The all cash transaction is valued at $137.5 million and includes the
-The A-Channel station group of six over-the-air conventional
broadcast television stations including CIVI Victoria, CHWI Windsor,
CKNX Wingham, CFPL London, CKVR Barrie, and CHRO Ottawa

Wonder what that means for the A-Channels in other cities such Calgary and
Edmonton. They can die as far as I'm concerned as I never watch the
A-Channel I have now.

Well, I take it you're in Alberta, and the once-called A-Channel
became "Citytv Calgary", "Citytv Edmonton" and "Citytv Winnipeg", and
those will know be owned by CTVglobemedia and will remain the second-
rate mini version of CTV; with only Citytv Toronto and Citytv
Vancouver mattering.

This really needs to die. Worse crap than Access.

Code for soft core porn. They should ask cable companies to add this to
basic cable. At least give subscribers some value for the outrageous fees
they ask to pay.

AGW

2007-04-10 02:20:00 UTC

Post by Taylor
The all cash transaction is valued at $137.5 million and includes the
-The A-Channel station group of six over-the-air conventional
broadcast television stations including CIVI Victoria, CHWI Windsor,
CKNX Wingham, CFPL London, CKVR Barrie, and CHRO Ottawa

Wonder what that means for the A-Channels in other cities such Calgary and
Edmonton. They can die as far as I'm concerned as I never watch the
A-Channel I have now.

So, if I'm reading you right, CTVglobemedia keeps the CityTV stations in
Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Wonder if this means layoffs at CityTV,
the original CTV stations (CFCN, CFRN, CKY) or both.

--
Stop the chop by deleting it from my address.

Brian Smith

2007-04-10 06:13:11 UTC

Post by AGW

Wonder what that means for the A-Channels in other cities such Calgary and
Edmonton. They can die as far as I'm concerned as I never watch the
A-Channel I have now.

So, if I'm reading you right, CTVglobemedia keeps the CityTV stations in
Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Wonder if this means layoffs at CityTV,
the original CTV stations (CFCN, CFRN, CKY) or both.

I think it means they are also keeping the CityTV stations in Vancouver and
Toronto as well. Isn't there a law about owning more than one station in a
market? If there isn't there should be. CityTV or A-Channel or whatever they
want to call themselves is a disaster. They serve no local purpose and I
truly hate the thought of Canadian media giants using these extra stations
to buy up all the US programming they can so they can simulcast the hell out
of us. I just wish people would phone/write their elected representatives
and tell them to disband the CRTC immediately as this whole notion of
protecting Canadian culture is the biggest crock in our entire history. Only
the current global warming scam is worse.

The fact that CanWest Global controls a network and a newspaper chain and is
more concerned with cross promoting the two products than they are with
developing quality programming (do they develop anything other than 7 hours
of news per day?) or accurate news reporting should be enough to convince
anybody that CTVGlobeMedia should be forced to sell all of the CityTV
stations. Preferably to small independent local companies.

Brian

Taylor

2007-04-10 06:34:56 UTC

Post by AGW

Wonder what that means for the A-Channels in other cities such Calgary and
Edmonton. They can die as far as I'm concerned as I never watch the
A-Channel I have now.

So, if I'm reading you right, CTVglobemedia keeps the CityTV stations in
Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Wonder if this means layoffs at CityTV,
the original CTV stations (CFCN, CFRN, CKY) or both.

I think it means they are also keeping the CityTV stations in Vancouver and
Toronto as well. Isn't there a law about owning more than one station in a
market? If there isn't there should be. CityTV or A-Channel or whatever they
want to call themselves is a disaster. They serve no local purpose and I
truly hate the thought of Canadian media giants using these extra stations
to buy up all the US programming they can so they can simulcast the hell out
of us. I just wish people would phone/write their elected representatives
and tell them to disband the CRTC immediately as this whole notion of
protecting Canadian culture is the biggest crock in our entire history. Only
the current global warming scam is worse.
The fact that CanWest Global controls a network and a newspaper chain and is
more concerned with cross promoting the two products than they are with
developing quality programming (do they develop anything other than 7 hours
of news per day?) or accurate news reporting should be enough to convince
anybody that CTVGlobeMedia should be forced to sell all of the CityTV
stations. Preferably to small independent local companies.
Brian- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Well, yes, there is a law about only owning one station in one market,
but the idea of "convergence" would allow 2 stations in one market.
For example, Toronto would have their CTV Toronto affiliate and Citytv
Toronto as their secondary. I don't watch Citytv at all (and go out of
my way to avoid simulcasting between Canadian and U.S. networks, even
if it means watching primetime on the Seattle stations starting at
11PM Eastern), but I assume the Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg Citytvs
all follow the same schedule as Toronto (East) and Vancouver (West).
This makes Citytv CTVglobemedia's second-rate second network..... a
Canadian (The) CW, if you will.

They MUST sell off the A-Channel affiliates (ex-The New Nets) because
that would be 3 stations in one city. For example A-Channel Barrie (ex-
The New VR Barrie) is so close to Toronto, that qualifies as a third
owned station, and that certainly won't do for the CRTC. Besides, even
in a world where one media group could own 3 local stations in one
market, it would be financially disastrous to buy programming for 3
different tiers of networks (the greatest going to the mighty CTV,
then Citytv, and finally to A-Channel). Plus, they have to compete
against CanWest Global for programming. For the media groups,
convergence is good, because when it comes time to buy U.S.
programming, it's no longer CTV vs. Global vs. CHUM.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-Channel

Hmm... but NOW it's CTV vs. Global vs. Rogers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rogers will have the third private network spanning Windsor all the
way up to Ottawa and reaching out west to Victoria. But does that make
a "3rd private network"? Well, Citytv goes from Toronto to Winnipeg...
2 stations in Alberta and then goes west to Vancouver. I guess it's
how one defines the term "network". None go to Quebec (no market for
it) and zero in Atlantic Canada.

Brian Smith

2007-04-10 19:00:09 UTC

Post by AGW

Wonder what that means for the A-Channels in other cities such Calgary and
Edmonton. They can die as far as I'm concerned as I never watch the
A-Channel I have now.

So, if I'm reading you right, CTVglobemedia keeps the CityTV stations in
Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Wonder if this means layoffs at CityTV,
the original CTV stations (CFCN, CFRN, CKY) or both.

I think it means they are also keeping the CityTV stations in Vancouver and
Toronto as well. Isn't there a law about owning more than one station in a
market? If there isn't there should be. CityTV or A-Channel or whatever they
want to call themselves is a disaster. They serve no local purpose and I
truly hate the thought of Canadian media giants using these extra stations
to buy up all the US programming they can so they can simulcast the hell out
of us. I just wish people would phone/write their elected representatives
and tell them to disband the CRTC immediately as this whole notion of
protecting Canadian culture is the biggest crock in our entire history. Only
the current global warming scam is worse.
The fact that CanWest Global controls a network and a newspaper chain and is
more concerned with cross promoting the two products than they are with
developing quality programming (do they develop anything other than 7 hours
of news per day?) or accurate news reporting should be enough to convince
anybody that CTVGlobeMedia should be forced to sell all of the CityTV
stations. Preferably to small independent local companies.
Brian- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

But an idea is not the same as a law. I'm not sure if the Calgary CityTV
station follows the same schedule as the rest or not. They seem to be rather
independent. Plus, in Alberta we have a different prime time than most
places due to Canadian networks need to torture as with simulcasting. We get
our core set of US networks from Spokane, WA which is in the Pacific time
zone. So our prime time goes from 9 PM to 12 AM for US networks. This really
screws up the Canadian networks because they can't simulcast any shows in
the last hour of prime time. Well, they could but at the expense of not
showing late nite news. Guess if they did it would be just a little too
obvious that there sole reason for existing is to buy up US programming and
sit back and make a ton of money without producing any of their own content.
Not that they produce much now.

Post by Taylor
They MUST sell off the A-Channel affiliates (ex-The New Nets) because
that would be 3 stations in one city. For example A-Channel Barrie (ex-
The New VR Barrie) is so close to Toronto, that qualifies as a third
owned station, and that certainly won't do for the CRTC. Besides, even
in a world where one media group could own 3 local stations in one
market, it would be financially disastrous to buy programming for 3
different tiers of networks (the greatest going to the mighty CTV,
then Citytv, and finally to A-Channel). Plus, they have to compete
against CanWest Global for programming. For the media groups,
convergence is good, because when it comes time to buy U.S.
programming, it's no longer CTV vs. Global vs. CHUM.

This is all very bad for viewers. The only solution is for the government to
kill the CRTC. Another government body can hand out licenses and make sure
that stations follow the rules of their license.

Post by Taylor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-Channel
Hmm... but NOW it's CTV vs. Global vs. Rogers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rogers will have the third private network spanning Windsor all the
way up to Ottawa and reaching out west to Victoria. But does that make
a "3rd private network"? Well, Citytv goes from Toronto to Winnipeg...
2 stations in Alberta and then goes west to Vancouver. I guess it's
how one defines the term "network". None go to Quebec (no market for
it) and zero in Atlantic Canada.

Rogers is still going to have the same problems that CityTV had, at least in
the west. No one cared about them. I think some people didn't even know that
they exist. If you think I'm exaggerating here is a sad fact from a recent
ratings period. The CityTV station in Calgary had an average audience for
their 6 PM (or whenever they show their news) newscast of something like
5,000 people. That is beyond pathetic in a market this big. You can't
survive with numbers that low.

Brian

RichA

2007-04-10 00:58:55 UTC