Did You Know?
- Astral’s French-language specialty television services broadcast more than 2,300 hours of Québec-produced programs every year.
- CANADA AM has been providing Canadians with the first news headlines of the day for the past 40 years.
- TSN produced more than 700 hours of live game coverage in the 2011-12 hockey season.
- In 2011, local morning shows called CTV MORNING LIVE were launched in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, and Vancouver, producing more than 20 hours of local programming every day.
- In 2012, Astral launched the first Canadian on-demand music streaming and music video service.
- Bell Media donates over $15 million dollars through in-kind promotional resources to local charitable and community initiatives on an annual basis.
- Bell Media invests almost $600 million each year on Canadian content, more than any other private broadcaster.
- In 2011 and 2012, Astral’s financial support of more than 600 organizations across Canada exceeded $40 million.
- Bell Media greenlit more Canadian programs in the past 18 months than CTV did in the previous three years.
- Bell Media’s DEGRASSI is the longest-running Canadian drama ever with over 400 episodes.
- Viewers watch way more Canadian content on CTV than any other channel, including CBC/SRC.
- Apple has recognized CTV News for its innovative newsgathering technology, using iPhones to capture HD video on location and send it for TV or web broadcast.
- Bell Media Radio reaches 7.8 million Canadians every week. More than 220,000 listeners are unique users online, listening to 850,000 streams per week.
- Astral-backed films and documentaries received 80 out of 94 nominations for the 2012 Genie Awards.
- Bell Media is Canada's top sports radio brand with six sports stations featuring NHL play-by-play of the Montréal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks, and soon, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- MuchMusic’s original series DISBAND and DISCOVERED helped launch the careers of successful Canadian bands Stereos, These Kids Wear Crowns, and Nightbox.
- Astral’s French-language specialty channels have acquired more than 1,000 hours of Canadian independent productions, including 350 hours of documentaries.
- Every year, Bell Media Radio stations support new and emerging Canadian artists with airplay, financial assistance, promotional exposure and live concerts.
- Bell Media has increased its Canadian programming expenditure by more than $100 million, compared to what CTV spent two years earlier.
- MuchMusic proudly supports and broadcasts WE DAY, the largest youth-empowerment event of its kind.
- Bell Media is the first conventional broadcaster in Canada to offer a simulstreamed television lineup for mobile with its CTV Mobile service.
- To date, Astral’s French-language specialty channels have invested more than $40 million to support and develop Canadian programs
- The Bell Media Prime Time TV Program is recognized as an essential source of trained writers and newly developed projects for the TV marketplace.
- BACKPACKERS is Bell Media’s first broadcast-quality, stand-alone digital series, created specifically for digital platforms.
Stay Informed:
“Bell has committed that all content will be available to all Canadians through the cable, satellite or IPTV provider of their choice. This is not only because we respect the CRTC rules and regulations, but because it makes obvious business sense.”
George Cope
CEO, BCE
“When competition is intense, the consumer wins. And we are seeing it in a level we have never seen before… the consumer wins from that.”
George Cope
CEO, BCE
“[Bell is] the best and the only player who was willing to keep Astral together and preserve its cultural and bilingual nature. No other buyer was willing to make that commitment.”
Ian Greenberg
CEO, Astral
“In a world where digital media has changed the landscape in which viewers consume content, producers will have greater potential to extend the audience reach across all BCE and Astral assets.”
John Brunton
Insight Productions
“CTV and Bell's commitment to the JUNOs, developing innovative digital opportunities, and tailor-made programming leading up to the broadcast, promoting the hell out of it on a variety of its channels and platforms, had just an enormous effect not only on the ratings of our program but of course on the music industry itself.”
John Brunton
Insight Productions
“We need companies that can compete with the global behemoths of Google, YouTube, Facebook and so on. These global companies do not contribute to our system in the way domestic companies do. They are unregulated and they are managed from afar.”
Sunni Boot
CEO of ZenithOptimedia
“Canadian broadcasters already operate in one of the world's most fragmented markets. Scale, real scale, will be critical to survival. Why? Because that's what delivers efficient reach sought by our advertisers.”
Sunni Boot
CEO of ZenithOptimedia
“Canadian broadcasting needs independent players but it also needs media companies with sufficient size and scope to innovate and compete for rights against unregulated OTT players.”
Peter Bissonnette
President of Shaw Communications
“We believe Astral's pay services, when combined with BCE's pay-per-view and VOD services offer new opportunities to promote Canadian films and reach larger audiences.”
Ted East
President of the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters (CAFDE)
“[Cable competitors] are not the least concerned that Bell will gouge or remove choice from consumers. They are worried that Bell will provide better and cheaper services. That's what business competition is all about.”
Peter Foster
National Post, Thursday, August 9, 2012
“[The deal] aimed to reshape the Canadian telecom-broadcasting industry with a new model that BCE believed would address the new competitive environment. The world is changing, and BCE saw Astral as a way to meet the challenge.”
Terence Corcoran
The Financial Post, Thursday, Oct 18, 2012
“It is critical for the Commission to understand the importance of the connection between the CFC and partners like BCE, important not only for the CFC’s training programs, but the importance of the development and production of Canadian programming in our multi-platform universe...”
Slawko Klymkiw
CEO, Canadian Film Centre
“BCE and Astral have both demonstrated their substantial community support of many years. This acquisition will allow charities and other community organizations to reach a wide audience to share their message and increase fundraising opportunities for many worthwhile causes.”
Kevin Garland and David Binet
Executive Director and Chair, The National Ballet of Canada
“[Should the transaction be approved], Bell and Quebecor will have a fairly equal market share in Québec, thus ensuring healthy competition. It will be up to consumers to judge the players' performance and choose between them.”
Gaétan Frigon
Executive Vice President, Publipage Inc., and ex-CEO of SAQ and Loto-Québec
“Bell's competitors, and not its clients, are the ones who impute to Bell ulterior motives.”
Gaétan Frigon
Executive Vice President, Publipage Inc., and ex-CEO of SAQ and Loto-Québec
“I think that we can fully expect lower rates for media buyers. The rise of a new competitor will stimulate competition since Bell will be able to offer highly competitive advertising prices and bundles.”
Pierre C. Bélanger
Professor, Department of Communication, University of Ottawa
“We find that Bell pays close attention to Canadian film and we commend Bell for its initiative to replenish The Harold Greenberg Fund with $10 million and invest more than $5 million in Canadian film festivals.”
Claire Samson
Chief Executive Officer, Association des producteurs de films et de television du Québec
“The Bell-Astral transaction will strengthen [Bell’s] ability to better compete with players such as Québecor Inc. and help better balance the playing field by ensuring that there are at least two players of similar size. All other media companies should benefit from having two more evenly balanced players competing against each other.”
François Olivier
President and Chief Executive Officer, Transcontinental
“This new order [the Bell-Astral transaction] in the Québec market will diversify business opportunities and will benefit all companies in the multimedia, information, communications, and entertainment industries, whether they're smaller competitors, advertisers, content providers or consumers obviously.”
Patrick Buchholz
Vice President, Legal Affairs and Assistant Secretary, Square Victoria Group
“For the benefit of consumers and to provide content creators with greater diversity and independence, Québec's Francophone market needs a more level playing field and the group that currently dominates this market needs a counterweight.”
Patrick Buchholz
Vice President, Legal Affairs and Assistant Secretary, Square Victoria Group
“We believe that this acquisition provides an extraordinary opportunity to help drive the industry to new heights of success and to further develop Canadian talent and raise its profile across Canada and around the world.”
Carolle Brabant
Executive Director, Telefilm Canada
“The Cirque du Soleil has had the opportunity [...] to collaborate with both Astral and Bell. These experiences allowed us to fully appreciate the professionalism of the two organizations and their respective contributions to Canadian culture.”
Daniel Lamarre
President and CEO, Cirque du Soleil
“[Bell’s and Astral’s investments] will make a significant contribution to supporting Canadian singers, musicians and songwriters and continue the long-standing Bell Media and Astral Radio traditions of supporting the Canadian music industry.”
Pierre Fortier
Executive and Artistic Director, Festival international de la chanson de Granby
“[Netflix, Google, and Apple] are not burdened with the same regulatory requirements and limitations as their Canadian counterparts…We need to ensure that Canadian corporations can count on a regulatory environment that helps them compete on an equal footing with foreign rivals.”
J. Serge Sasseville
Vice President, Corporate and Institutional Affairs Quebecor Media Inc.
