CHUM Ltd. (TSX:CHM.b)is buying Craig Media, Canada's largest privately owned television broadcaster, for $265 million in cash, the companies announced Monday.

CHUM said it will file an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for transfer of ownership of Craig Media's assets by mid-May 2004.

Based in Calgary, Craig's holdings include:

  • "A Channel" stations in Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg.
  • The recently launched Toronto1 station.
  • CKX, a CBC-affiliate station in Brandon, Man.
  • Digital specialty channels MTV, MTV2 and TV Land.




CHUM plans to sell off Toronto1, which hit the airwaves last September, because it already owns the Citytv station in Toronto and the Barrie, Ont.-based New VR, which broadcasts in the Toronto market.

Possible bidders for Toronto1 could include Torstar Corp., Rogers Communications, Alliance Atlantis, Astral Media, Quebecor Inc. and Corus Entertainment Inc.

CHUM has 30 radio stations, eight local television stations and 18 specialty channels.

CHUM's local television stations include Citytv (Toronto), Citytv (Vancouver), the New VR (Barrie), the New RO (the Ottawa region), the New PL (London), the New NX (Wingham), the New WI (Windsor) and the New VI (Victoria and Vancouver Island).

The company's specialty analogue services include MuchMusic, MuchMoreMusic, SPACE: The Imagination Station and Star!. Its specialty digital channels include FashionTelevisionChannel, BookTelevision, a 60 per cent stake in CourtTV Canada, Drive-In Classics, and SexTV: The Channel.

In February, the CRTC denied CHUM's application to open local TV stations in Calgary and Edmonton. Craig Media was one of the companies that wrote to the CRTC to oppose CHUM's application, arguing that two new stations would siphon away advertising revenue.

Acquiring Craig Media will now give CHUM the presence in Western Canada that it has been lacking between Ontario and British Columbia.

"CHUM's aspirations to grow in Western Canada are well known and this acquisition provides us with not only an opportunity to reach Alberta and Manitoba audiences on a conventional television platform, but provides additional digital channels to complement CHUM's stable of specialty brands," Jay Switzer, CHUM's president and CEO, said.

Shares of CHUM were up 50 cents on Monday to $30.50 on a volume of only 195 shares on the TSX.