Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
to BCE and its rival,
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media ass ...
, in a deal valued at around $1.32 billion. Additionally,
Larry Tanenbaum
Lawrence M. Tanenbaum (born 1945) is a Canadian businessman and chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE). He owns a 25% stake in MLSE through his holding company Kilmer Sports Inc.
Early life
Tanenbaum was born to a Jewish family, ...
increased his stake in the company to 25%. The deal closed in August 2012.
On March 16, 2012, BCE announced that it had entered in an agreement to
acquire
''Acquire'' is a multi-player mergers and acquisitions themed board game. It is played with tiles representing hotels that are arranged on the board, play money and stock certificates. The object of the game is to earn the most money by developi ...
-based broadcaster Astral Media for an estimated value at $3.38 billion; the assets of which were to be incorporated into Bell Media. The acquisition was primarily centered on Astral's premium services (such as
The Movie Network
Crave (formerly The Movie Network or TMN) is a Canadian premium television network and streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc.
Launched in 1983 as the national service First Choice, early difficulties and a subsequent ...
and its stake in
HBO Canada
HBO (previously known as HBO Canada, and still referred to as such on social media) is a Canadian premium television network from Crave (formerly The Movie Network), which is owned by Bell Media. The channel is primarily devoted to original pro ...
) and its French-language radio and television stations. Bell planned to use Astral's premium offerings to enhance its own multi-platform services to compete against the likes of services such as
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
, and its French media outlets to better compete against the dominant
Family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
,
Disney XD
Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven yea ...
, the two
Disney Junior
Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven y ...
services,
MusiMax
Max is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group, a division of Remstar. The channel primarily broadcasts entertainment programming, focusing on scripted television series and films.
Established in 1997 as MusiMax ...
,
MusiquePlus
Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women.
It was first established in 1986 as the mu ...
, and five radio stations up for sale, while
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian mass media company. Formed in 1999 as a spin-off from Shaw Communications, it has prominent holdings in the radio, publishing, and television industries. It is headquartered at Corus Quay in Toronto, Onta ...
Teletoon
Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and "cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts an ...
from Astral and competitor Shaw Media.
On June 6, 2013, Bell announced that Bravo would be its first network to implement a
TV Everywhere
TV Everywhere (also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video on-demand) refers to a type of subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themse ...
service, which would allow subscribers to Bravo on participating television service providers to stream video on demand content and the Bravo channel live via the Bravo Go app. Apps for some of its other networks were also released over the following months.
Layoffs, new partnerships (2014–17)
In December 2014, Bell Media launched
CraveTV
Crave (initially named CraveTV) is a Canadian subscription video on demand service owned by Bell Media. The service competes directly with other subscription-based over-the-top streaming services operating in Canada, primarily American-based se ...
, a subscription video on-demand service. Initially, the service was available only through television providers; Bell Media president Kevin Crull argued that Bell did not want the service to cannibalize its linear television business, because its content " ould notexist if you didn't have the traditional TV system. So you really can't sustainably have one without the other."
On April 9, 2015, Crull stepped down as president of Bell Media, and was replaced by Mary Ann Turcke, the subsidiary's former head of media sales. The move came following allegations reported by ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' that, after the CRTC's March 2015 decision to mandate that pay television providers offer
a la carte
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...
packages, Crull ordered all Bell-owned news properties, including
CTV News
CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the national ...
, not to air any remarks by CRTC chairman
Jean-Pierre Blais Jean-Pierre Blais (born ) is a Canadian lawyer who is currently serving as the Assistant Deputy Minister, Receiver General and Pension for Canada. He previously served as the Chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commissio ...
during reports regarding the decision. Although the CTV News Channel program ''Power Play'' and a report aired on local evening newscasts complied with Crull's order, the '' CTV National News'' that night defied Crull's demand by airing a story on the changes that included remarks by Blais. CTV News president Wendy Freeman, Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife, and the program's anchor Lisa LaFlamme felt that the inclusion of remarks by Blais were necessary due to the nature of the story. In response to the dismissal, BCE CEO
George A. Cope
George A. Cope (born 28 July 1961) is a Canadian businessman, and the former CEO of Bell Canada.
Early life and education
Cope was born in Scarborough, Ontario and grew up in Port Perry. Cope's father played for a short time for the Toronto A ...
explained that the journalistic independence of its news operations were "paramount importance to our company and to all Canadians".
Shortly after taking the position, Turcke was criticized for remarks that considered the use of virtual private network services to evade
geo-blocking
Geo-blocking or geoblocking is technology that restricts access to Internet content based upon the user's geographical location. In a geo-blocking scheme, the user's location is determined using Internet geolocation techniques, such as checking t ...
and access the U.S. version of subscription video on demand service
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
to be "stealing".
In late-August 2015, Bell Media began a series of layoffs, which included directors and vice presidents. On November 6, 2015, additional layoffs of 380 jobs from production, editorial, sales, and administrative roles in Toronto and Montreal were revealed. On November 17, 2015, further cuts were made, which included high-profile on-air talent from radio and television properties in Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver.
On November 20, 2015, Corus announced that it would wind down the operation of
Movie Central
Movie Central (occasionally abbreviated as "MC", mostly in program guides) was a Canadian English language Category A premium cable and satellite television channel that was owned by Corus Entertainment. Movie Central was designated to operat ...
, a premium television service that had been granted exclusivity in Western Canada, and cede its regional monopoly to Bell Media's
The Movie Network
Crave (formerly The Movie Network or TMN) is a Canadian premium television network and streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc.
Launched in 1983 as the national service First Choice, early difficulties and a subsequent ...
, which was similarly restricted to Eastern Canada, allowing it to become available nationwide in 2016. Bell Media subsequently announced that it had acquired exclusive Canadian rights to all current HBO programming in Canada (rights previously shared with Corus due to its joint venture
HBO Canada
HBO (previously known as HBO Canada, and still referred to as such on social media) is a Canadian premium television network from Crave (formerly The Movie Network), which is owned by Bell Media. The channel is primarily devoted to original pro ...
).
On January 6, 2016, iHeartMedia announced that it had partnered with Bell Media to launch a localized version of its online radio service iHeartRadio Canada. On January 14, 2016, CraveTV became available as a standalone service without requiring an existing television subscription.
On May 4, 2016, Bell acquired rights to the programming and branding of Canadian specialty channel
Gusto TV
CTV Life Channel is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts factual and reality programming on lifestyle topics such as cooking, home improvement and real estate, along with scripted dram ...
. The channel was shut down, and re-launched on September 1, 2016, replacing M3 under its existing Category A license.
On January 31, 2017, Bell Media announced that it planned to perform another round of layoffs in 24 locations, citing various developments across Canada's broadcasting industry, as well as the impact of recent regulatory decisions (such as one that prevents the federal
simsub
Simultaneous substitution (also known as simsubbing or signal substitution) is a practice mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requiring broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) in Canada to distr ...
rules from being used on the Super Bowl, whose Canadian broadcast rights are currently owned by Bell Media).
Randy Lennox era (2017–19)
On February 27, 2017, Turcke left Bell to join the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
as president of NFL Media. She was succeeded as president by
Randy Lennox
Randy Lennox is a Canadian music and media executive. He currently serves as executive chair of Elevate, the Canadian purpose-driven cultural & innovation hub, and continues to produce film and television documentaries.
He has served as president ...
. That month, Bell also announced that it had partnered with record executive
Scott Borchetta
Scott Borchetta (born July 3, 1962) is an American record executive and founder of the Big Machine Label Group. He started the label in 2005 with 13 employees, as its president/CEO and encompasses four imprints: Big Machine Records, BMLG Recor ...
to develop a new, international
television format A TV format is the overall concept and branding of a copyrighted television show. The most common type of formats are those in the television genres of game shows and reality shows, many of which are remade in multiple markets with local contestant ...
that would "uncover, develop, and promote pop culture's next musical superstars", and "leverage Bell Media's massive reach and extensive platforms to showcase musicians on the national and international stage." CTV officially announced the new series, ''
The Launch
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', in April 2017.
On June 7, 2017,
Wow Unlimited Media
Wow Unlimited Media (stylized as WOW! Unlimited Media) is a Canadian animation and media holding company. It was formed as a result of a merger between Rainmaker Entertainment, Frederator Networks and Ezrin Hirsh Entertainment (EHE).
History
On O ...
announced that it would acquire a specialty channel from the company (later revealed to be
Comedy Gold Comedy Gold may refer to:
* ''Comedy Gold'' (TV series), a 2008 Australian television series
*Comedy Gold (TV channel)
Comedy Gold, formerly known as TV Land Canada was a Canadian English language specialty channel that was owned by Bell Media fo ...
; however, the sale would later be aborted, leading to the channel's shutdown in 2019) to form a new network targeting children and young adults, and provide
children's television
Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...
content for Bell's over-the-top ventures. As part of the purchase, BCE will take 3.4 million common voting shares in the company.
On August 9, 2017, Bell announced that it would acquire
Larche Communications
Larche Communications was a Canadian media company, which operated four radio stations in the province of Ontario. The company was named for its president, Paul Larche.
Based in Midland, Ontario, Midland, the company began in 1997 when it acquired ...
Starz Inc.
Starz Entertainment LLC., (doing business as Starz Inc., and founded as Encore Movie Group in 1991) is an American entertainment company that owns U.S. pay television channels, including the namesake Starz network, and a media distribution comp ...
and
Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
, and that TMN Encore would be rebranded under the Starz brand in 2019, featuring its programming. The following month, Bell launched SnackableTV, a streaming video app with short-form content from Bell Media properties and other sources.
In April 2018, Bell Media acquired a controlling stake in the
Pinewood Toronto Studios
Pinewood Toronto Studios (formerly known as ''Filmport'') is a major film and television studio complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is the largest of its kind in Canada. It is the first in Toronto capable of accommodating the production of ...
complex. In May 2018, Bell Media announced that it, along with several other parties, would contribute French-language content to
's subscription streaming service Ici Tou.tv Extra.
In May 2018, Bell Media laid off 17 employees, resulting in the cancellation of Discovery's ''
Daily Planet
The ''Daily Planet'' is a fictional newspaper appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The newspaper was first mentioned in ''Action Comics'' #23 (April 1940). The ''Daily Planet'' build ...
'' and Space's '' Innerspace''.
On June 7, 2018, during the CTV upfronts, it was announced that four Bell Media specialty channels would re-brand in September 2019, with Bravo, Comedy Network, Gusto, and Space respectively becoming CTV Drama Channel, CTV Comedy Channel, CTV Life Channel, and CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Two new ad-supported video-on-demand platforms were also announced: CTV Movies and CTV Vault (renamed CTV Throwback on launch). These rebrandings and launches will be incorporated into a larger, unified digital platform containing content from all six services. Later that day, it was also announced that Bell Media was one of two Canadian companies that had acquired a stake in the Montreal-based comedy festival Just for Laughs.
On August 16, 2018,
Vice Media
Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); ...
announced a long-term output deal with Bell Media, which would see its networks and properties hold rights to
Viceland
Viceland (stylized in all caps), and Vice TV in the United States, are brands used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. Viceland launched on February 29, 2016, with two branded cable channels; the American version (rebra ...
programming in Canada.
On July 24, 2019, Bell announced its intent to acquire the French-language broadcast television network V from V Media Group pending CRTC approval, as well as its streaming outlet Noovo. CTVglobemedia previously owned a 40% stake in the network prior to its sale to
. On April 3, 2020, the sale was approved; as a condition of the purchase, the CRTC stated that all five V stations must air five hours of local programming per-week through the 2020-2021 broadcast year, and expanding to eight-and-a-half hours per-week in Montreal and Quebec City by 2021–2022. At least half of all local programming must be locally-reflective. The sale was closed on May 15, 2020. V would later be renamed to Noovo on August 31, 2020.
Wade Oosterman era
On October 19, 2020, BCE announced that Lennox would be leaving the organization on January 4, 2021, and that Bell group president Wade Oosterman, to whom Lennox reported, would take over operational leadership of Bell Media directly, while maintaining oversight of Bell's wireless, residential, and small-business telecom operations. BCE subsequently clarified that Oosterman would henceforth hold the title of president of Bell Media while remaining vice-chair of BCE and Bell Canada.
Immediately following Lennox's departure, Oosterman announced a new, simplified executive structure. As a result, several senior executives of Bell Media, some having served with the company's predecessors since the late 1990s, left the company; two of the three senior vice presidents reporting to Oosterman under the new structure also have roles overseeing parts of Bell's telecom business. Several other lower-level managers were laid off about two weeks later. This in turn was followed in early February by the elimination of hundreds of rank-and-file positions, including at least 210 in the company's Toronto offices alone, the removal of dedicated newsrooms for news-talk radio stations CJAD Montreal and
CFRB
CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West.
CFRB is a ...
Toronto, and the reformatting of three
TSN Radio
TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media.
In a memo announcing the end of the restructuring, Oosterman described the moves as necessary to "reflect the reality of sweeping change facing ell Media including impacts of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, changing media consumption patterns and "aggressive" competition from global players. They were also widely seen as indicating a corporate shift in focus away from traditional media outlets and towards Bell's streaming services like Crave and iHeartRadio. However, observers including
Unifor
Unifor is a general trade union in Canada and the largest private sector union in Canada. It was founded in 2013 as a merger of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions, and consists of 310,000 workers a ...
, the main
labour union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...
representing Bell employees, questioned the need for the layoffs, given that parent company BCE had accepted $122 million in assistance through the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy in 2020, while being able to increase its
dividend
A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-i ...
payments to shareholders.
Operations
Bell Media's largest division is CTN (Canadian Televsion Network) which includes the broadcast television assets of:
* CTV, Canada's oldest, largest, and most-watched private broadcast television network, including 20 owned-and-operated stations, with three affiliates under license from Bell Media.
*
CTV 2
CTV 2 is a Canadian English-language television system owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The system consists of four terrestrial owned-and-operated television stations (O&Os) in Ontario, one in British Columbia and two regional cab ...
, a secondary television system that presently consists of four
terrestrial
Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth.
Terrestrial may also refer to:
* Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...
television stations in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
and one in
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, as well as two cable/satellite-only channels: one in
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
Noovo
Noovo is a Canadian French-language terrestrial television network owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The network has five owned-and-operated and three affiliated stations throughout Quebec, although it can also be seen over-the-air ...
, Quebec's private broadcast television network in French, including five owned-and-operated stations.
* Bell Media also owns two additional British Columbia television stations which were acquired through the acquisition of Astral Media in 2013, namely
CFTK-TV
CFTK-TV ( analogue channel 3) is a television station in Terrace, British Columbia, Canada, airing CTV 2 programming. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it is part of the Great West Television system. CFTK-TV's studios are located on Lazelle Av ...
Dawson Creek
Dawson Creek is a city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The municipality of had a population of 12,978 in 2016. Dawson Creek derives its name from the creek of the same name that runs through the community. The creek was named after ...
, while these stations are not officially part of Bell's secondary CTV 2 television system, however they carry some CTV 2 programming.
CTN also includes 29 specialty television channels, frequently in partnership with U.S. companies which operate similar channels, and primarily concentrated in the following genres:
1Until the rebranding of Business News Network as BNN Bloomberg as part of a licensing and content agreement with
Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg L.P. is a privately held financial, software, data, and media company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was co-founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, with Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan, Charles Zegar, and a 1 ...
on April 30, 2018, no foreign co-owners or brand partners were involved with these channels. However, like most news organizations, CTV does rely on foreign news sources, such as
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
and
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
, for some international coverage.
Through its Bell Media Radio division, the company is also Canada's largest private-sector radio broadcaster and operates a localized version of iHeartMedia's iHeartRadio platform in Canada, even owning the radio syndication company Orbyt Media, which supplies its American programming from iHeartMedia's
Premiere Networks
Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. ...
division.
In addition, Bell Media also owns television & radio production studios and
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wi ...
s associated with all of the above properties, as well as the TheLoop.ca (formerly Sympatico.ca) Internet portal previously operated through Bell Canada.
Bell Media has four locations:
*
9 Channel Nine Court
9 Channel Nine Court (alternatively known as the CTV Toronto Studios, CFTO-TV Studios, Glen Warren Studios or Bell Media Agincourt and temporarily known as 9 Dave Devall Way)299 Queen Street West
299 Queen Street West, also known as Bell Media Queen Street or Bell Media Studios, is the headquarters of the television/radio broadcast hub of Bell Canada's media unit, Bell Media located at the intersection of Queen Street West and John Str ...
McGill College Avenue
McGill College Avenue (officially in french: avenue McGill College) is a street in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Named for McGill University, the street was widened in the 1980s and transformed into a scenic avenue with McGill's Roddick Gat ...
Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium
Established in 2007, Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium (legal name ''7048467 Canada Inc.'', also sometimes referred to informally in branding as CTV Olympics and RDS Olympiques, additionally referred to as the National Olympic Network b ...
Torstar Corporation
Torstar Corporation is a Canadian mass media company which primarily publishes daily and community newspapers. In addition to the ''Toronto Star'', its flagship and namesake, Torstar also publishes daily newspapers in Hamilton, Peterborough, Ni ...
Canadian Communications Foundation
The Canadian Communications Foundation (CCF) is a Canadian nonprofit organization which documents the history of broadcasting in Canada, particularly radio and television. Since 1995, the organization has distributed its collection via an inter ...