CHUM Limited
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CHUM Limited TSX: [CHM]
The company has recently announced it is to be taken over by Bell Globemedia, owner of the CTV network, pending regulatory approval.
History
CHUM began in 1945 with a single AM radio station in Toronto. In 1954 it was purchased by Allan Waters, and today several of his children stand on the board of directors of the company. In 1967 Waters founded CHUM Limited to control his growing number of media properties.
Although CHUM's radio holdings tend to retain traditional formats, their television stations reflect the avant garde philosophy of former senior executive Moses Znaimer, who turned his hip, local style of television broadcasting into an image as perhaps Canada's most flamboyantly visible media titan in the 1980s and 1990s. (Znaimer retired from active management at CHUM in 2003, although he continues to work on projects with the company.)
CHUM Limited's headquarters are located at 299 Queen Street West in Toronto, the famous CHUM-City Building.
On December 1, 2004, CHUM purchased Craig Media Inc., which owned five local TV stations, mainly in the Prairies, and three digital specialty services, for $265 million. While Craig's three largest stations were integrated into Citytv, Craig's Toronto station CKXT-TV (then branded "Toronto 1", now "Sun TV") was sold to Quebecor.
In addition to its own stations, CHUM is one of several sources (alongside CanWest's CH and Global TV) providing syndicated programming to independently-owned CBC and CTV affiliates.
Proposed merger with Bell Globemedia
Few details are known about BGM's specific plans for the company, likely to remain the case until the transaction goes before the CRTC for approval. What is known is as follows:
- BGM intends to retain Citytv as a separate, youth-oriented system with its current lineup of stations, potentially with the addition of the CTV-owned Atlantic Satellite Network, which airs Citytv programming in Atlantic Canada. The acquisition of Citytv would require an exemption from the CRTC's ownership policy (one station per market per language per owner - [Public Notice CRTC 1999-97 at 17]), which has never been officially revoked, even though both CHUM (with Citytv and A-Channel/Access) and CanWest (with Global and CH) have secured exemptions in many large markets. Even so, such large-market exemptions have almost never applied to stations licensed to the same city.
- The company insists that the Citytv stations' news operations will remain separate from those of CTV, although, as noted below, most Citytv newscasts outside Toronto have already been cancelled ahead of the merger.
- The A-Channel stations and the Access educational channel in Alberta are currently slated for sale; otherwise BGM would have owned three over-the-air stations in several markets. CKX-TV has not been slated for sale, although it is unclear what role this station, a CBC affiliate, will play in the combined company.
- BGM plans to keep all the specialty channel and radio assets, which it views as "complementary" to its existing properties. This would give BGM ownership (in whole or part) of nearly 40 specialty channels. The only hurdles in terms of direct competition may be the merged company's ownership of two all-news channels, CTV Newsnet and Toronto's CP24, as well as both MuchMusic and MTV Canada. In the latter case, even if no sale is required, the branding of one or both services might be changed, depending on the nature of BGM's current relationship with MTV Networks.
Corporate governance
Current members of the board of directors of CHUM Limited are: Gordon Craig, Lawrence Lamb, John Mattenley, Fred Sherratt, Robert Sutherland, Jay Switzer, Catherine Tait, James Waters (chairman), Marjorie Waters, and Ron Waters. Allan Waters retired from the board on Friday, October 29, 2005.[link]Radio stations
| City | Call Sign | Frequency | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brockville | CJPT | FM 103.7 | "Bob FM" Adult Hits |
| CFJR | FM 104.9 | "JR FM" adult contemporary | |
| Edmonton | CHBN | FM 91.7 | "The Bounce" Rhythmic Top 40 (Co-owned with Milestone Radio) |
| Halifax | CJCH | AM 920 | oldies |
| CIOO | FM 100.1 | "C100" CHR | |
| Kingston | CKLC | AM 1380 | oldies |
| CFLY | FM 98.3 | "FLY-FM" CHR | |
| Kawartha Lakes | CKLY | FM 91.9 | "Bob FM" Adult Hits |
| London | CHST | FM 102.3 | "Bob FM" Adult Hits |
| Montreal | CKGM | AM 990 | "The Team 990" sports |
| Ottawa | CFRA | AM 580 | news/talk |
| CFGO | AM 1200 | "The Team 1200" sports | |
| CKKL | FM 93.9 | "Bob FM" Adult Hits | |
| CJMJ | FM 100.3 | "Majic 100" adult contemporary | |
| Peterborough | CKPT | AM 1420 | "1420 Memories" oldies |
| CKQM | FM 105.1 | "Country 105" | |
| Toronto | CHUM | AM 1050 | "1050 CHUM" oldies |
| CHUM-FM | FM 104.5 | "CHUM-FM" hot adult contemporary | |
| Vancouver | CKST | AM 1040 | "The Team 1040" sports |
| CFUN | AM 1410 | news/talk | |
| CHQM | FM 103.5 | "QMFM" adult contemporary | |
| Victoria | CFAX | AM 1070 | news/talk |
| CHBE | FM 107.3 | "Kool FM" hot adult contemporary | |
| Waterloo | CKKW | AM 1090 | "Oldies 1090" |
| CFCA | FM 105.3 | "Kool FM" hot adult contemporary | |
| Windsor | CKWW | AM 580 | "580 Memories" oldies |
| CKLW | AM 800 | news/talk | |
| CIMX | FM 88.7 | "89X" modern rock | |
| CIDR | FM 93.9 | "Lite Rock 93.9" adult contemporary | |
| Winnipeg | CFRW | AM 1290 | oldies |
| CHIQ | FM 94.3 | "Q94 FM" Hot Adult Contemporary | |
| CFWM | FM 99.9 | "Bob FM" Adult Hits |
In November, 2004, CHUM and Astral Media filed an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for a satellite radio service in Canada. That application and two others were approved by the CRTC on June 16, 2005; official launch dates for the services have not yet been announced.
Television stations
Local stations
- Citytv
- * CITY - Toronto, Ontario (and rebroadcasters in Woodstock, Ontario and Ottawa, Ontario)
- * CKVU - Vancouver, British Columbia
- * CKAL - Calgary, Alberta (and rebroadcaster in Lethbridge, Alberta)
- * CKEM - Edmonton, Alberta (and rebroadcaster in Red Deer, Alberta)
- * CHMI - Winnipeg, Manitoba
- A-Channel
- * CKVR - Barrie, Ontario
- * CHRO - Pembroke, Ontario/Ottawa, Ontario
- * CFPL - London, Ontario
- * CKNX - Wingham, Ontario (semi-satellite of CFPL)
- * CHWI - Wheatley, Ontario/Windsor, Ontario
- * CIVI - Victoria, British Columbia (and rebroadcaster in Vancouver, British Columbia)
- CBC Television affiliate
- * CKX - Brandon, Manitoba
- Provincially-authorized educational broadcaster
- * CJAL (ACCESS) - Edmonton, Alberta (and rebroadcaster in Calgary, Alberta)
Analog specialty cable channels
Digital specialty cable channels
- FashionTelevisionChannel
- BookTelevision
- Drive-In Classics
- MuchLOUD
- MuchMoreRetro
- MuchVibe
- PunchMuch (formerly MTV2 Canada)
- Razer (formerly MTV Canada)
Co-owned
- CourtTV Canada (with Court TV)
- MusiquePlus (with Astral Media)
- MusiMax (with Astral Media)
- TV Land Canada (with Viacom)
International joint ventures
- Citytv Bogotá
- MuchMusic Argentina
- MuchMusic Mexico (programming block on Once TV)
- Channel M
Television channels using CHUM trademarks or formats
Active
- Citytv Puerto Rico
- Citytv Bogotá
- MuchMusic Argentina
- MuchMusic Malaysia
- MuchMusic Mexico (programming block on Once TV)
- Star! Scandinavia (programming is a mix of several CHUM channels, such as Star!, FashionTelevisionChannel and MuchMoreMusic)
Inactive
See also
External links
- [CHUM Limited]
- [CRTC chart of CHUM Limited's assets]
- [CHUM/Bell Globemedia press release re takeover]
- [CHUM TV cutbacks on day of takeover announcement]
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