CHUM GETS CRTC APPROVAL FOR CRAIG MEDIA PURCHASE
By Adnews Staff
CHUM of Toronto has received approval from the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission to buy Craig Media for $265 million. The purchase includes three broadcast television stations in Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg, CBC-affiliate station CKX in Brandon, MB, Toronto station Toronto1 and digital specialty channels MTV, MTV2 and TV Land. The CRTC ruling stipulates that CHUM must divest itself of Toronto 1. CHUM has already reached an agreement with TVA Group and Sun Media, both subsidiaries of Quebecor Media, to sell the station for $46 million plus Sun's 29.9% stake in Ontario news channel CablePulse24. This stake, worth $8 million, will give CHUM full ownership of that channel. Both deals are expected to go through on Dec. 1.