''This article is about the history of the CHUM Limited's former assets, for the current ownership see
CTVglobemedia .''
was a media company based in
Toronto ,
Ontario ,
Canada from 1945-2007. Immediately prior to its acquisition, it held full or joint control of two Canadian television systems —
Citytv and
A-Channel (incorporating
NewNet ) — comprising 11 local stations, and one
CBC Television (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) affiliate, one provincial educational channel, and 20 branded
Specialty Television Channels , most notably
MuchMusic and its various spinoffs. In addition, CHUM controlled 33
Radio Station s across Canada. At various points in its history, CHUM owned other radio stations and
ATV /
Atlantic Satellite Network in
Atlantic Canada .
In July 2006, CHUM announced it was to be taken over by Bell Globemedia (now renamed
CTVglobemedia ), owner of the
CTV Television Network . Regulatory approval was conditional on the sale of CHUM's five Citytv stations to
Rogers Communications . While the latter transaction is still pending (Citytv remains in a blind trust), CTVglobemedia took control of CHUM's other assets effective June 22, 2007. CHUM continues as a subsidiary of CTVgm. Its Toronto radio stations
1050 CHUM and
CHUM-FM and the
CHUM-City Building still carry the CHUM name. However, it is no longer a broadcasting company separate from its new parent.
, the headquarters of CHUM Television. It is currently referred to as the
MuchMusic World Headquarters, to avoid references to CHUM and Citytv after the CTVglobemedia takeover.]]CHUM began in 1945 with a single AM radio station in Toronto. In 1954 it was purchased by
Allan Waters , and today several of his children stand on the board of directors of the company. In 1967 Waters founded CHUM Limited to control his growing number of media properties.
Although CHUM's radio holdings tend to retain traditional formats, their television stations reflected the avant garde philosophy of former senior executive
Moses Znaimer , who turned his hip, local style of television broadcasting into an image as perhaps Canada's most flamboyantly visible media titan in the 1980s and 1990s. (Znaimer retired from active management at CHUM in 2003, and continued to work on projects with the company.)
CHUM Limited's headquarters were located at 299
Queen Street West in Toronto, the famous
CHUM-City Building .
On
December 1 ,
2004 , CHUM purchased
Craig Media Inc. , which owned five local TV stations, mainly in the
Prairies , and three
Digital specialty services, for
$ 265 million. While Craig's three largest stations were integrated into Citytv, Craig's Toronto station
CKXT-TV (then branded "Toronto 1", now "Sun TV") was sold to
Quebecor .
In addition to its own stations, CHUM was one of several sources (alongside
CanWest 's
CH and
Global TV ) providing syndicated programming to independently-owned CBC and
CTV affiliates.
On (CRTC), which held a public hearing beginning April 30, 2007 in
Gatineau .[http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Hearings/2007/n2007-3.htm#1
Broadcasting Notice of Public Hearing CRTC 2007-3], CRTC, March 1, 2007
CTVgm's takeover bid was completed on October 30, although CHUM was immediately in a '', August 2, 2006; copy of article hosted by
Friends Of Canadian Broadcasting
Few details are known about CTV's specific plans for the company following approval. What is known is as follows:
- In its initial announcement, CTV said it would attempt to maintain all five Citytv stations, and operate them as a separate, youth-oriented system with its current lineup of stations. This is potentially with the addition of the CTV-owned Atlantic Satellite Network , which airs Citytv programming in Atlantic Canada, although there has been no specific statement to that effect.
- ---The acquisition of Citytv would have required an exemption from the CRTC's ownership policy (one station per market per language per owner - Public Notice CRTC 1999-97 at 17 ), which has never been officially revoked, even though both CHUM (with Citytv and A-Channel/Access) and CanWest (with Global and CH ) have secured exemptions in many large markets. Even so, such large-market exemptions have almost never applied to stations licensed to the same city.
- The company insisted that the Citytv stations' news operations would remain separate from those of the CTV network, although, as noted below, most Citytv newscasts outside Toronto have already been cancelled ahead of the merger.
- CTV acknowledged following the merger announcement that it would have to sell some assets to satisfy CRTC concerns. In early April 2007, it announced it would sell the A-Channel stations, the to Rogers Communications ; as well as sell CHUM's 50% interest in MusiquePlus and MusiMax to Astral Media . Both sales were contingent on approval of CTV's purchase, but would have be considered separately by the CRTC at a later date. Rogers planned to develop A-Channel as a "third-tier" network separate from its multicultural OMNI stations. CFMT , CJMT , and the A-Channel stations would have constituted a Triplestick in southern Ontario, however this might have been permitted as the two OMNI stations carry predominately non-English programming, and the ownership policy noted above restricts against holding multiple stations in the ''same'' language. {Link without Title}
- Per the CRTC application for the CTV/CHUM merger, negotiations are also underway to sell CTV's 33.34% interest in OLN ; the most likely purchaser is the other Canadian partner in OLN, Rogers Communications.
- In a filing on May 7, 2007, following the public hearing, CTV said it "would agree to sell CHMI-TV Winnipeg if the Commission determined this was in the public interest". It also said it would be prepared to sell CKEM Edmonton and CKAL Calgary should CanWest Global 's pending re-application to add additional transmitters to CHCA-TV Red Deer be denied, in which case CTV would instead apply to purchase ACCESS. Record of CBC interventions and CTV replies re CHUM acquisition on CRTC website; these commitments are in document marked "Second Reply"
- Except as noted above, CTV plans to keep all the specialty channel and radio assets, which it views as "complementary" to its existing properties. This would give CTV ownership (in whole or part) of nearly 40 specialty channels. The only hurdles in terms of direct competition may be the merged company's ownership of two all-news channels, CTV Newsnet and Toronto's CP24 , as well as both the MuchMusic channels and MTV Canada . CTV is arguing that MTV is not a direct competitor to MuchMusic, much as the previous MTV Canada (now Razer) was found not to be competing with MuchMusic following the CHUM/Craig merger. The branding of one or both services ''might'' be changed, depending on the nature of CTV's current relationship with MTV Networks .
Immediately following the announcement, CHUM separately announced 281 layoffs, primarily at its local stations in western Canada; local newscasts (other than ''Breakfast Television'' and the Noon News in Calgary and Edmonton) at all Citytv stations in the region were immediately pulled. CHUM claims the layoffs were part of an ongoing process to streamline its operations and not directly related to the takeover.
On
June 8 ,
2007 , the CRTC approved the CTV takeover of CHUM. However, the CRTC made the deal conditional on CTV divesting itself of Citytv rather than A-Channel. This consequently voided the Rogers deal; on
June 11 ,
2007 , Rogers announced that it has agreed to buy the Citytv stations. CTV said it would keep all other assets, except CHUM's interest in
MusiquePlus /
MusiMax , and potentially
CKX-TV and
CLT . On June 22, 2007, CTVglobemedia announced that the CHUM transaction was completed and it was officially the sole owner of CHUM Limited, nearly a year after it announced its intention to purchase the company.
The last ,
Lawrence Lamb ,
John Mattenley ,
Fred Sherratt ,
Robert Sutherland ,
Jay Switzer ,
Catherine Tait ,
James Waters (chairman),
Marjorie Waters , and
Ron Waters .
Allan Waters retired from the board on Friday, October 29, 2005.
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In November, 2004, CHUM and
Astral Media filed an application with the
Canadian Radio-television And Telecommunications Commission for a
Subscription Radio service in Canada. That application, along with two
Satellite Radio services, were approved by the CRTC on
June 16 ,
2005 . While the two satellite services launched soon after the decision, CHUM did not implement its service, the authority for which expired on June 16, 2007 (two years after licensing).
- Citytv
- --- CITY - Toronto, Ontario (and rebroadcasters in Woodstock, Ontario and Ottawa, Ontario )
- --- CKVU - Vancouver, British Columbia
- --- CKAL - Calgary, Alberta (and rebroadcaster in Lethbridge, Alberta )
- --- CKEM - Edmonton, Alberta (and rebroadcaster in Red Deer, Alberta )
- --- CHMI - Winnipeg, Manitoba
- A-Channel
- --- CKVR - Barrie, Ontario
- --- CHRO - Pembroke, Ontario / Ottawa, Ontario
- --- CFPL - London, Ontario
- --- CKNX - Wingham, Ontario (semi-satellite of CFPL)
- --- CHWI - Wheatley, Ontario / Windsor, Ontario
- --- CIVI - Victoria, British Columbia (and rebroadcaster in Vancouver, British Columbia )
- CBC Television affiliate
- --- CKX - Brandon, Manitoba
- Provincially-authorized educational broadcaster
- --- CJAL (ACCESS) - Edmonton, Alberta (and rebroadcaster in Calgary, Alberta )
