MONTREAL – Bell will introduce a new business unit called Bell Media and retire the CTVglobemedia holding company name once its acquisition of CTV is finalized early in the second quarter of this year.
Bell Media will include all CTV properties plus Bell’s Sympatico web portal. Those properties include CTV with its 28 conventional stations; 29 specialty TV channels; on-line digital media destinations such as CTV.ca, MuchMusic.com, MTV.ca, RDS.ca, TSN.ca and TheComedyNetwork.ca; as well as CHUM Radio, which operates 33 radio stations across the country.
"The CRTC’s expeditious approval of the CTV transaction means Bell is on track to complete our acquisition in early Q2, sooner than originally expected," said Bell and BCE president and CEO, George Cope, in a statement on Monday. "We look forward to welcoming the CTV team to Bell and to accelerating the delivery of the best digital content to Canadians on the screens of their choice through Bell’s world-leading broadband fibre and mobile networks."
Bell said that it will update its 2011 financial guidance to reflect the acquisition of CTV when it releases its first quarter results on May 12, 2011.
