ZoomerMedia Limited is a Canadian

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

company controlled by

Moses Znaimer Moses Znaimer (; born 1942) is a Tajik-born Canadian media executive of jewish descent. He is the co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia. ...

, the founder of the

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...

network. Originally focusing on properties targeting what the company calls "zoomers", or the 45+ demographic, in 2022, the company began expanding the company's target audience by acquiring youth-focused properties BlogTO and Daily Hive.

History

ZoomerMedia was formed in December 2007 following Znaimer's acquisition and merger of Kemur Publishing, publishers of CARP Magazine, and website operator Fifty-Plus.Net International. It provides marketing, membership, and other services to

CARP Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

(formerly the Canadian Association of Retired Persons), of which Znaimer serves as executive director, and publishes Zoomer Magazine (the renamed CARP Magazine). The company also operates several Internet properties including a portal and a social networking site, all targeted to older adult audiences. In addition, Znaimer previously personally owned a variety of other assets through his privately held company, MZ Media, that were also unofficially considered part of the "ZoomerMedia" group. These included southern Ontario classical music radio stations

CFMZ-FM CFMZ-FM (''The New Classical 96.3 FM'') is an FM broadcasting, FM radio station City of license, licensed to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Broadcasting on 96.3 Hertz, MHz, the station is owned by ZoomerMedia and airs a classical music radio format. CF ...

and

CFMX-FM CFMX-FM (103.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Cobourg, Ontario, and serving the Peterborough area. It is owned by ZoomerMedia and airs a classical music format branded as ''Classical 103.1''. It is a semi-satellite of Toronto's 96.3 CFMZ- ...

(Classical 96 and Classical 103 respectively), adult standards station

CFZM CFZM is a Class A clear-channel radio station, licensed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, broadcasting on the assigned frequency of 740 kHz, and with a low power repeater in downtown Toronto at 96.7 FM. The station airs an oldies format branded ...

Toronto (AM 740), and the annual IdeaCity conference. In June 2009, ZoomerMedia Limited announced a deal to acquire the broadcasting assets of

S-VOX S-VOX Foundation was a Canadian non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated fo ...

, which includes conventional stations

CHNU-TV CHNU-DT (channel 66) is a religious independent television station serving southwestern British Columbia, Canada, including Greater Vancouver, Victoria, the Fraser Valley and surrounding areas. Licensed to the Fraser Valley Regional District, the ...

and

CIIT-TV CIIT-DT (channel 35) is a religious independent television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, owned by ZoomerMedia. The station's studios are located on Osborne Street and Wardlaw Avenue in Winnipeg, and its transmitter is located near Courch ...

along with specialty channels

VisionTV VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic. VisionTV is currently owned by ZoomerMedia, a company ...

and One: the Body, Mind & Spirit channel, for $25 million. As part of the transaction and a related

private placement Private placement (or non-public offering) is a funding round of securities which are sold not through a public offering, but rather through a private offering, mostly to a small number of chosen investors. Generally, these investors include friend ...

, Znaimer also merged MZ Media into ZoomerMedia. Following the transactions (which required the approval of minority shareholders and the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(CRTC), Znaimer owns 66% of the combined company, and insurance company

Fairfax Financial Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a Canadian financial holding company based in Toronto, Ontario, which is engaged in property, casualty, insurance and reinsurance, investment management, and insurance claims management. The company operate ...

owns 28%. All of these transactions were completed on June 30, 2010. In 2022, ZoomerMedia began acquiring more youth-focused online properties, including ''BlogTO''Nick Krewen
"Zoomer’s big plans for BlogTO are already underway"
''Media in Canada'', February 14, 2022. and ''

Daily Hive ''Daily Hive'', formerly known as ''Vancity Buzz'', is a Canadian online newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It began digital publishing in 2008 and became Western Canada's largest online-only publication by 2016. In September 2022 ...

''.

Assets

Conventional television stations

ZoomerMedia's two conventional stations were part of a television system known as ''Joytv'' until August 2013 when CIIT was rebranded as "Hope TV" and dropped all non-religious programming. As Joytv, they were licensed as religious television stations that air religious-based programs in addition to other family friendly and entertainment programs. Both were previously owned by S-VOX. They had previously been a part of the

Omni Television Omni Television (stylized as OMNI Television) is a Canadian television system and specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. It currently consists of all six of Canada's conventional multicultural t ...

system, having been previously owned by Trinity Television before the sale to Rogers. Rogers sold the two stations to S-VOX on March 31, 2008. *

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

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, ...

(Joytv) *

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

(FAITHTV)

Specialty channels

(Canada) and ZoomerTV (United States) * ONETV (Canada) and ONETV US (United States)

Radio

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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 Ca ...

(Classical 96) *

, Toronto, Ontario (Zoomer Radio 740AM & 96.7FM) *

Cobourg, Ontario Cobourg ( ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto and east of Oshawa. It is the largest town in and seat of Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It i ...

(Classical 103) *

CFMO-FM CFMO-FM (''Classical 102.9'') is a radio station broadcasting a classical music format on 102.9 MHz FM in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada. The station is owned by ZoomerMedia, through licensee MZ Media Inc. It is largely a semi-satellite of Zoome ...

Collingwood, Ontario Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay. Collingwood is well known as a tourist destination, for its skiing in the winter, and limestone caves along the Nia ...

''(Classical 102.9)''

Magazines

*On the Bay Magazine *Tonic Magazine *Zoomer Magazine

Digital

*EverythingZoomer.com * Buzz Connected Media **''

Other assets

*Fresh Daily Inc **BlogTO *MZTV Museum of Television *MZTV Production & Distribution *ideaCity (Conference) *Marketing / membership operations of

*Zoomer Management Limited *ZoomerCard *ZoomerShow

References

External links

ZoomerMedia
{{ZoomerMedia Companies listed on the TSX Venture Exchange Companies based in Toronto Canadian companies established in 2008 Television broadcasting companies of Canada Mass media companies established in 2008 2008 establishments in Ontario