Shaw to buy Canwest content, says viewers migrating to wireless

Shaw Communications Inc.’s acquisition of the restructured Canwest Global Communications Corp. is a strategic move as viewers migrate from traditional services to mobile and broadband, Shaw President Peter Bissonnette told analysts and reporters Monday. Shaw announced Monday it has entered into agreements to acquire 100 per cent of Canwest’s over-the-air and specialty television businesses for $2 billion. The deal includes the acquisition, from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., all equity interests in CW Investments Co., a Canwest subsidiary that owns specialty channels acquired from Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. in 2007. The purchase is worth $700 million. The agreement with Goldman clears the way for Shaw to acquire Canwest's television assets, including its television stations. “The primary driver for us is the ownership of content. We see that customers are really trending towards watching and purchasing content across a variety of media platforms, both broadband and mobile devices … We believe that a greater percentage of traditional programming will be viewed on video-on-demand,” Bissonnette said in a conference call. “As a result, we see that ownership and access to the rights … are key in developing the business model for the very platforms that Shaw has now, or will have, as we deploy more our distribution, whether it’s broadband, Internet, streaming video, over-the-top video or whether it becomes part of our wireless network that we are building.” Shaw recently announced that it will launch an Long Term Evolution (LTE)-capable wireless network in Canada in late 2011. In the 2008 spectrum auction, Shaw spent $189-million on licences in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and parts of Northern Ontario—covering a total of about 9.4 million people. Shaw’s ownership of content, paired with its wireless services, are expected to help the company offer a “quad-play.” The company will have the ability to offer all the major communications services—home phone, Internet, cable television and wireless—under one bundle. Shaw announced on Feb. 12 it had entered into an agreement with Canwest and its holders to acquire a minimum 20 per cent equity interest and an 80 per cent voting interest in a restructured Canwest.

Shaw to buy Canwest content, says viewers migrating to wireless

Brief | May 3, 2010

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Shaw to buy Canwest content, says viewers migrating to wireless

Brief | May 3, 2010

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