CHUM Limited

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CHUM Limited

Former type	Public (TSX: CHM)
Fate	Merged with CTVglobemedia
Founded	1945
Defunct	2007
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Key people	Jay Switzer, President and CEO
Industry	Media
Products	Media, Broadcasting

CHUM Limited was a media company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 1945 to 2007. Immediately prior to its acquisition, it held full or joint control of two Canadian television systems — Citytv and A-Channel (incorporating NewNet) — comprising 11 local stations, and one CBC Television (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) affiliate, one provincial educational channel, and 20 branded specialty television channels, most notably MuchMusic and its various spinoffs. In addition, CHUM controlled 33 radio stations across Canada. At various points in its history, CHUM owned other radio stations and ATV/Atlantic Satellite Network in Atlantic Canada.

In July 2006, CHUM announced it was to be taken over by Bell Globemedia (now renamed CTVglobemedia), owner of the CTV Television Network. Regulatory approval was made conditional on the sale of CHUM's five Citytv stations to Rogers Communications. CTVglobemedia took control of CHUM's other assets effective June 22, 2007.

CHUM, now renamed CTV Limited, continues as a subsidiary of CTVgm. Its Toronto radio stations CP24 Radio 1050 (formerly 1050 CHUM) and CHUM-FM still carry the CHUM name, and the company's radio subsidiary retains the name CHUM Radio Network. However, it is no longer a broadcasting company separate from its new parent.

[edit] History

CHUM-City Building

Although CHUM's radio holdings tend to retain traditional formats, their television stations reflected the avant garde philosophy of former senior executive Moses Znaimer, who turned his hip, local style of television broadcasting into an image as perhaps Canada's most flamboyantly visible media titan in the 1980s and 1990s. (Znaimer retired from active management at CHUM in 2003, and briefly continued to work on projects with the company, before moving on to other ventures such as CFMZ-FM.)

CHUM Limited's headquarters were located at 299 Queen Street West in Toronto, the famous CHUM-City Building, Today it is used by CTVglobemedia.

On December 1, 2004, CHUM purchased Craig Media Inc., which owned five local TV stations, mainly in the Prairies, and three digital specialty services, for $265 million. While Craig's three largest stations were integrated into Citytv, Craig's Toronto station CKXT-TV (then branded "Toronto 1", now "Sun TV") was sold to Quebecor.

In addition to its own stations, CHUM was one of several sources (alongside CanWest's CH and Global TV) providing syndicated programming to independently-owned CBC and CTV affiliates.

[edit] Acquisition by CTVglobemedia

Wikinews has related news: Canadian media company Bell Globemedia to acquire rival CHUM

On July 12, 2006, CHUM announced that it had agreed to a takeover by Bell Globemedia, now renamed CTVglobemedia (herein abbreviated "CTV" or "CTVgm" for brevity), in a transaction valuing CHUM at $1.7 billion CAD. The takeover required approval from two regulatory bodies, the Competition Bureau, which approved the transaction on March 2^[1], and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which held a public hearing beginning April 30, 2007 in Gatineau.^[2]

CTVgm's takeover bid was completed on October 30, although CHUM was immediately in a blind trust under lawyer John McKellar.^[3]

Immediately following the announcement, CHUM separately announced 281 layoffs, primarily at its local stations in western Canada; local newscasts (other than Breakfast Television and the Noon News in Calgary and Edmonton) at all Citytv stations in the region were immediately pulled. CHUM claims the layoffs were part of an ongoing process to streamline its operations and not directly related to the takeover.

On June 8, 2007, the CRTC approved the CTV takeover of CHUM. However, the CRTC made the deal conditional on CTV divesting itself of Citytv rather than A-Channel. This consequently voided the Rogers deal; on June 11, 2007, Rogers announced that it has agreed to buy the Citytv stations. CTV said it would keep all other assets, except CHUM's interest in MusiquePlus/MusiMax, and potentially CKX-TV and CLT.

The company officially ceased operations on June 22, 2007.

[edit] Corporate governance

The last board of directors of CHUM Limited were: Gordon Craig, Lawrence Lamb, John Mattenley, Fred Sherratt, Robert Sutherland, Jay Switzer, Catherine Tait, James Waters (chairman), Marjorie Waters, and Ron Waters. Allan Waters retired from the board on October 29, 2005.^[4]

[edit] Radio stations at time of sale

In November, 2004, CHUM and Astral Media filed an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for a subscription radio service in Canada. That application, along with two satellite radio services, were approved by the CRTC on June 16, 2005. While the two satellite services launched soon after the decision, CHUM did not implement its service, the authority for which expired on June 16, 2007 (two years after licensing).

[edit] Television stations at time of sale

[edit] Local stations

[edit] Citytv

• Calgary, Alberta - CKAL
• Edmonton, Alberta - CKEM
• Toronto, Ontario - CITY
• Vancouver, British Columbia - CKVU
• Winnipeg, Manitoba - CHMI

[edit] A-Channel

• Barrie, Ontario - CKVR
• London, Ontario - CFPL
• Pembroke/Ottawa, Ontario - CHRO
• Victoria, British Columbia - CIVI
• Wheatley/Windsor, Ontario - CHWI
• Wingham, Ontario - CKNX

[edit] Other

• Brandon, Manitoba - CKX (CBC Television affiliate)
• Edmonton, Alberta - CJAL (provincially-authorized educational broadcaster)

[edit] Analogue specialty cable channels

• MuchMusic
• MuchMoreMusic
• Bravo!
• Canadian Learning Television
• CablePulse 24
• Space
• Star!

[edit] Digital specialty cable channels

• CourtTV Canada
• FashionTelevisionChannel
• BookTelevision
• Drive-In Classics
• MuchLOUD
• MuchMoreRetro
• MuchVibe
• PunchMuch
• Razer
• SexTV: The Channel

[edit] Co-owned

• MusiquePlus 50% (with Astral Media)
• MusiMax 50% (with Astral Media)
• TV Land Canada 80% (with Viacom)

[edit] Television channels using CHUM trademarks or formats at time of sale

[edit] Active

• Citytv Bogotá
• Citytv Puerto Rico
• MuchMusic Argentina
• MuchMusic Malaysia
• MuchMusic Mexico (programming block on Once TV)
• Star! Scandinavia (programming is a mix of several CHUM channels, such as Star!, FashionTelevisionChannel and MuchMoreMusic)

[edit] See also

• List of Canadian television channels

[edit] References

Coordinates: 43°38′59″N 79°23′25″W / 43.649701°N 79.390233°W / 43.649701; -79.390233

[edit] External links

• The History of CHUM Limited
• CHUM Ltd. - (1944-2008) at the Canadian Communications Foundations website