EDMONTON – CCAA-protected pay TV provider Super Channel last month had its protection order extended until February 28th, 2018. The court also recently dismissed claims from unsecured creditors HSBC and Shaftsbury Films against secured creditors Rosedale Meadows Development Inc. and Peter Allard.
The Allard-family owned company (its legal entities are called Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc. and Allarco Entertainment Limited Partnership) entered bankruptcy protection in May 2016, then owing $115.7 million to a number of creditors. It has been granted several extensions on its protection from creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) since.
According to numerous industry sources, the company has been thoroughly shopped around in search of a buyer, but none has yet emerged.
According to mandatory filings with the CRTC, the privately held broadcaster pulled in $30.5 million in revenue from 337,000 subscribers during the broadcast year ended August 2016 (the latest CRTC figures available), and posted a loss of $11.7 million. The channel’s posted subscription count high came in the 2011 CRTC designated broadcast year with 457,000 subs, and its high in revenue was in 2014 when it made $38.5 million from 392,000 subscribers – and it also turned in a $2.6 million pre-tax profit that year.
Over time, Super Channel’s spend on Canadian content has risen, too, as its license requires, from $3.9 million in 2012 to $10.8 million in 2016.
The company has been attempting to shake things up on the content side in order to attract new subscribers, adding content such as esports, pro boxing, the re-branded women’s pro football league Legends of Football (formerly the lingerie league), and some edgy, independent movies and series.
