Corus announced before markets opened today that the Competition Bureau has blocked its sale of the Historia and Series+ French-language specialty TV channels to Bell Media. It noted that it and Bell Media are "reviewing the [Competition Commissioner's] decision" and "considering the appropriate course of action" (read: challenging the decision, likely, in Federal Court). It further noted that the deal is still subject to approval of the CRTC.
It's interesting that the Competition Bureau got involved here - they normally take somewhat of a "back seat" to the CRTC when it comes to broadcasting and telecommunications mergers. I have to think that's because they are increasingly concerned about parent BCE's size and the scope of its Bell Media division. With this decision, I'm also wondering if Bell Media has now reached "peak acquisition," that is it has reached a level where it can no longer buy anything (material) within its existing operating segments' businesses?
As to this sale, I'd kind of forgotten, or simply didn't care, about it. It's not like Bell Media really owns any French-language history channels, either. So, it's definitely puzzling. Why didn't the Competition Bureau get involved in the sale of, oh I don't know, CTV!? It seems to me Corus wanted to sell these channels because they were unprofitable, even if they also were "non-core" to their "women and kids" focus that they seem to have (though this is less of a case since they bought Shaw Media's assets). I'm wondering, if TVA or Quebecor doesn't want to buy these channels (and how could the Competition Bureau approve a sale to either of them when they already dominate the Quebec market even more!?), maybe Corus will just shut them down?
Cheers,
Doug