CABINET UPHOLDS CRTC APPROVAL OF ASTRAL-CORUS $11M QUEBEC RADIO STATION SWAP Canadian Press Astral Media Inc. and Corus Entertainment said Thursday they have won federal cabinet approval for an $11-million deal that will see the media companies swap radio stations in Quebec.
Corus, of Toronto, received Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approval in January to buy seven AM stations and one FM station from Astral. In return, Montreal-based Astral gets five stations from Corus.
The cabinet nod for the deal effectively ends a protest by Quebec politicians, union officials, listeners and retired hosts at French-language station CKAC against Corus's planned closure of the station's Montreal newsroom and the layoffs of 17 of 20 journalists.
Under the deal, expected to close at the end of May, Astral gets two FM stations in Rimouski and one in each of Amqui, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Drummondville.
Corus will acquire AM stations in Montreal, Quebec City, Saguenay, Trois Rivieres, Sherbrooke, Gatineau and an FM station in Levis.
Montreal-based Astral has interests in specialty, pay and pay-per-view television, radio and outdoor advertising.
Corus, which was created in 1999 from the media assets of Calgary-based Shaw Communications Inc., owns children's filmmaker Nelvana Ltd. and specialty TV networks such as W, CMT and Teletoon.
Shares in Corus fell 34 cents to $29.49 Thursday on the Toronto stock market. Astral stock also lost 34 cents to $32.65. |