COUNTRY MUSIC COMPANIES MAKE A DEAL
By Adnews Staff
The eight-month country music TV battle has finally ended. U.S.-based Country Music Television and Canadian-owned New Country Network have reached an agreement that gives CMT owners a 20% stake in NCN. CMT also has the option to buy another 13.3% if the government passes legislation allowing foreign companies to own up to one-third of Canadian broadcasting operations. CMT started operating in Canada in 1984 but was forced off the air on Jan. 1, 1995 to make room for NCN. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's policy is that foreign-owned stations must be pulled off the air when a similar Canadian-owned service starts operating. When the two companies appeared to be at an impasse after failing to close a deal they had made earlier, the U.S. government threatened retaliatory action against Canada. CMT is owned by Gaylord Entertainment of Olkahoma City and Group W Satellite Communications, a unit of Westinghouse Broadcasting of New York.