TORONTO – Late this afternoon, Rogers Media announced it had purchased 100% of Outdoor Life Network Canada in separate deals with co-owners CTVglobemedia and Versus.
The three media companies had each owned a third of the channel. Versus, which is owned by American cable behemoth Comcast, had been named OLN and concentrated on outdoor programming (sharing both its brand and programming with the Canadian operation) before switching to Versus in 2006 and refocusing its programming to more mainstream sports. It is the primary outlet for the National Hockey League in the U.S., for example.
It is not known at this time if Rogers has programming or branding changes in mind for the channel.
OLN Canada, an analog cable channel launched in 1997, earned $15.6 million in revenue in the 2006 broadcast year, ended August 31, 2006 (the last year of data available from the Commission), an increase of 12% over 2005, generating a pre-tax profit of $5.3 million in ‘06, an increase of 23%. As of the end of the 2006 broadcast year, OLN had 5.57 million subscribers.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed and it is subject to CRTC approval. The deals are expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.
