Bell Bristles at CRTC TSN-690 Solution for Montreal

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Bell resistant to CRTC's TSN 690 proposal
By Steve Faguy, The Gazette
May 6, 2013

MONTREAL — The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission could force Bell to sell one of Astral Media Inc.’s English-language radio stations in Montreal as a condition of its $3.38-billion acquisition of the Montreal-based media company.

As part of its application to acquire Astral, Bell is asking the CRTC for an exception to its radio ownership policy allowing it to own four English-language radio stations in Montreal after the acquisition — TSN 690, now owned by Bell, and CHOM, Virgin Radio and CJAD, now owned by Astral. Bell’s application comes with hundreds of signatures from listeners on its Save TSN 690 petition.

Bell argues that without this exception, it would be forced to sell the station or shut it down, robbing Montreal of a sports talk radio station that has a small but fiercely loyal audience.

But at a hearing on Monday in Montreal, CRTC Commissioner Suzanne Lamarre asked Bell about the possibility of ordering it to sell one of the other three profitable stations and keeping TSN 690 in its current format. She asked if it wouldn’t be “a missed opportunity” to ask Bell to sell a profitable station and allow another player to enter the market, explaining that the commission must explore all possible options on the table. She noted that the hundreds of comments filed in support ask only that the station maintain its format, and few actually express support for Bell buying Astral and three other English radio stations in Montreal.

The only other commercial player in English Montreal radio now is Cogeco, which owns 92.5 The Beat. Another station, an AM talk station owned by newcomer Tietolman-Tétrault-Pancholy Media, received a licence in 2012 and is expected to launch this year.

Bell was resistant to the CRTC’s proposal. CEO George Cope said Bell is not in the business of selling profitable stations and keeping unprofitable ones. Astral chief operating officer Jacques Parisien argued that CHOM, Virgin and CJAD operate as a cluster, and separating them could harm their operations and would not benefit the broadcasting system.

Bell also pointed out that Cogeco received a similar exemption when it acquired Corus’ Quebec radio stations in 2011. Cogeco was allowed to keep three French-language FM stations in Montreal, in exchange for setting up the Cogeco Nouvelles radio news service.

If it gets the requested exception, Bell has promised to keep TSN 690 in its current format for the next seven years, and offer $245,000 over seven years to support sports journalism scholarships and amateur sports in Montreal.

The CRTC hearing continues until Friday. A decision on both the larger Astral acquisition and the request for and exception in Montreal would likely come this summer.