TORONTO and VANCOUVER – Wow Unlimited Media and Bell Media announced Wednesday they have completed their previously announced tie-up where WOW will buy one of Bell’s specialty channels and in return Bell will take a minority position in Wow.
The deal will see Wow buy a still-unnamed Category B service and Bell will receive 12% of Wow shares, valued at $6.87 million. (At this time the only two English language Category B channels Bell 100% owns are Comedy Gold and Investigation Discovery. Its other cat Bs are ESPN Classic, Animal Planet, Discovery Science, Discovery Velocity, and LeafsTV – and are all co-owned with other partners.)
The deal requires CRTC approval and Bell Media will gain the right to nominate a Wow board member.
Wow creates kids and youth animated content and is helmed by Nelvana founder Michael Hirsch.
The companies’ prior announcement noted that acquiring this TV channel is part and parcel of a much broader strategy which is a multi-platform rollout of “a new paradigm in entertainment for kids and youth across North America,” Hirsch said earlier this year.
Wow’s key assets include digital animation network, Frederator Networks, which consists of an animation production company Frederator Studios, as well as VOD channels on digital platforms; Hispanic animation network, Atomo Network, and Canadian animation production studios, Rainmaker Entertainment.
