SHAW AND CANWEST MAKE A DEAL
By Adnews Staff
Shaw Communications of Calgary and Canwest Global Communications Corp. of Winnipeg have reached an agreement on who should get which assets of WIC Western International Communications. Under the deal, Canwest will assume control of WIC's television assets, as well as the company's interest in ROBTV and TQS. WIC's TV properties includes TV stations in Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna, both in B.C., Calgary, Lethbridge and Red Deer, both in Alberta, Hamilton, Ont. and Montreal. Other television assets include WIC Entertainment, Western Broadcast Sales, Artray Film and Video, Allarcom Studio, Studio Post and Transfer and Apple Box Productions. Shaw will acquire WIC's radio, pay television, specialty television and Cancom assets. These assets will include radio stations in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Hamilton, Ont., Cancom, Viewers Choice Pay-Per-View, pay TV stations including the Superchannel, Movie Max, the Family Channel and Teletoon, as well as Canadian Broadcast Sales. The agreement is still subject to approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. "We believe this transaction is in the best interests of the Canadian broadcasting system," Shaw president and COO Jim Shaw says in a release. "We've maintained our focus on specialty television and radio and Canwest focuses its expertise on the conventional television side."