A Globe and Mail article looks at why companies may have to get broken up under the new media concentration rules announced this week by the CRTC.
Should Shaw Communications Inc. ever decide to sell its majority stake in radio-and-TV broadcaster Corus Entertainment Inc., for example, those assets would have a hard time finding a single owner.
Corus is coveted by a variety of broadcasters for its specialty TV assets, including YTV, Teletoon and Treehouse, and a network of 52 radio stations. Although Shaw has stated it has no intention to sell Corus, analysts say the hypothetical sale of the broadcaster is a case study of how complex future takeovers could be.
A new restriction preventing media companies from owning more than two of the three local media disciplines in one market - radio, TV and newspaper - prevents CanWest from buying Corus without selling the radio stations.
As well, another new rule preventing broadcasters from holding more than 45 per cent of the TV audience in either English or French would prevent CTV from buying Corus.
CTV and its cable channels, which include TSN, Bravo, MTV, have 37.4 per cent of the English TV audience, while Corus holds 9.1 per cent, according to the CRTC's figures.
Disclosure, I work for CTV News as a writer for CTV.ca News.