Corus says CRTC ‘over licensed’ key markets

The CRTC should not “over license” markets to “non-committed broadcasters,” Corus Entertainment Inc. CEO John Cassaday told investors on a conference call Wednesday to announce the company’s quarterly results. “The one complaint we have with the commission is that, what they believe is an attempt to add diversity to the system, tends to enrich non-committed broadcasters,” Cassaday said. “We believe that organizations like Corus, Rogers, CTV, Astral, which are committed to this business, should be allowed to control more of the shelf space. This practice of providing licences to people who flip them in five years is not good for anybody.” Cassaday said that due to the issuing of broadcasting licences, Corus has “certainly been hit hard in Edmonton and Calgary.” He said Toronto has also been over-licensed but that the company is facing fewer new competitors due to spectrum scarcity in the area. Cassady said ratings are up for the company’s money-losing AM640 "Home of the Leafs" station in Toronto. “Here’s a station that was losing as much as $2 million a year, and we’re confident that it can break even and move to profitability,” he said. “Some of you may feel we’ve been too patient with 640 but this is a $220 million radio market. We believe in our product.” Cassaday said Toronto’s 680 News in Toronto was a money loser for seven years before it began to turn a profit. On the conference call Wednesday, the company, which owns specialty channels Movie Central, HBO Canada, and Treehouse, noted that it is also planning programming changes to its W Network to draw more male viewers. "We had a schedule that was largely based on transformation shows--beauty shows where the protagonist was transformed through the course of the show," Cassaday said. "Quite frankly, men just weren't willing to sit through that and watch with their wives whereas in the case of other lifestyle genres, such as home improvement, there was a greater willingness to do that." The programming changes result from data gleaned from portable people meters, a device that helps companies track television and radio consumption habits.

Corus says CRTC ‘over licensed’ key markets

Brief | April 15, 2010

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Corus says CRTC ‘over licensed’ key markets

Brief | April 15, 2010

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