Astral Media-Corus radio transaction officially closed Astral Media Inc. announced May 30 that its radio swap with Corus Entertainment was officially closed. Astral Media now operates five new FM stations in Rimouski, Amqui, St. Jean-sur-Richelieu and Drummondville QC, along with 16 FM stations in major markets in Quebec, and eight in the Atlantic provinces. Under the deal, Corus Quebec acquired seven AM stations and one FM station: CKAC Montreal, CHRC Quebec City, CJRC Gatineau, CKRS Saguenay, CHLN Trois-Rivières, CHLT Sherbrooke, CKTS Sherbrooke and CFOM-FM Lévis. Corus Quebec said that it planned to launch Corus Nouvelles, the largest private radio news agency in Quebec. CKAC union representatives appealed to no avail the CRTC’s decision because they did not agree with Corus’ plan to change the focus of the station to sports and health from its current popular news and talk-radio format (CCR, April 22/05; March 11/05). CKAC’s mission as a talk radio station will be strengthened, and listeners will be given more opportunities to speak. In addition, programming will focus on the following areas: health, sports, politics, and news, Corus Quebec said. “Corus Quebec management shares Montrealers’ attachment to the station. That’s whey we have decided to position CKAC for the latest industry trends to help it reclaim its record listenership levels,” said Corus Quebec president Pierre Arcand in a statement.
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Nadir Mohamed has been named as president and COO of the newly created communications division of Rogers Communications Inc., which combines the wireless assets and the cable TV sections. The restructuring is aimed at driving increased integration of the company’s wireless and cable operations, the company stated. Robert Bruce, currently executive VP and chief marketing officer at Rogers Wireless, will become president of Rogers Wireless. Edward Rogers will continue as president of Rogers Cable.
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CCTA praises VoIP decision The Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association (CCTA) is praising the CRTC’s decision to regulate Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) just as it does circuit-switched services. "The decision to treat VoIP as a telephone service makes sense," CCTA president Michael Hennessy said in a statement. "Since VoIP has the same pricing, packaging and functions as traditional phone service, it should be regulated like traditional phone service." He added, "This decision is not about regulating the Internet. Apart from the incumbent pricing safeguards and ensuring access to 911 services, the CRTC has taken a light-handed approach to regulation." Under the ruling, cablecos wanting to offer VoIP will have to apply as CLECs. Incumbent telephone providers such as Bell Canada and TELUS Corp. have vowed to appeal to Cabinet to have the decision overturned. For a detailed look at the CRTC’s landmark VoIP ruling, see the May 25 issue of affiliate newsletter Network Letter.
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Canada is pushing to have a draft text for the protection of diversity of cultural content and artistic expression ironed out at an intergovernmental meeting being held last week and this in Paris. The ultimate goal, according to Canadian Heritage minister Liza Frulla, is to have the text officially adopted at the next general meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in October.
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