TORONTO – Rogers Broadcasting has finally gotten the over-the-air ethnic channel in Vancouver it coveted back in the 1990s as the CRTC on Monday approved its purchase of channel m (CHNM-TV) from Multivan Broadcast Ltd. (Broadcasting Decision 2008-72).
The transaction initially announced last July, but without the financial terms of the deal being disclosed, is expected to close on April 30.
“We are delighted with the approval by the CRTC of our acquisition of channel m. The Rogers OMNI Television group will continue to illustrate Canada’s ongoing commitment to a media landscape that reflects our multicultural and multilingual history,” said Rogers Media CEO of Television Leslie Sole.
The acquisition will expand Rogers’ ethnic TV operations into the lower Vancouver mainland and Vancouver Island markets, which are home to three million residents. The station will be branded after Rogers’ multicultural stations in Toronto, OMNI 1 and 2. Rogers currently owns an OMNI-branded station in Vancouver, but it is a Christian channel that Rogers has agreed to sell.
The CRTC on Monday also approved the acquisition of that channel – CHNU-TV Fraser Valley – along with CIIT-TV Winnipeg from Rogers by Christian Channel Inc. (Broadcasting Decision 2008-71).
Christian Channel Inc. is a division of Toronto-based S-VOX, which entered into an agreement to acquire the two stations from Rogers in November 2007.
S-VOX president and CEO Bill Roberts, said, “This is an important step forward for our organization. The addition of these two outstanding properties will advance S-VOX’s standing as Canada’s leading provider of programming content on spirituality, faith, personal growth and wellness.”
The CRTC decision relieves S-VOX of the requirement to provide a tangible benefits package equal to 10% of the value of the transaction, based on the CRTC’s exemption for small-market stations.
S-VOX has hired Toronto-based marketing agencies Cundari SFP and Loopmedia to rebrand the two stations.
Rogers was also granted licences for new OMNI channels in Calgary and Edmonton, which are expected to launch this fall. The expansion of the OMNI properties across the country provides Rogers with a national platform for ethno-cultural audiences and advertisers, Rogers noted in a media release.
Rogers tried numerous times for a licence for an over-the-air ethnic station in Vancouver. Its attempts in 1996 and again in 1999 were turned aside by the CRTC. Rogers appealed the CRTC’s decision not to grant it a Vancouver ethnic licence to Cabinet, which asked the commission to re-examine the matter.
In 2002, the CRTC put out a general call for applications for such a station. It received two applications – one from Rogers and the other from Multivan, which was awarded the Vancouver licence and launched channel m in June 2003.
