CRTC rejects Bell’s takeover bid

OTTAWA (NEWS1130) – The federal broadcast regulator has unconditionally rejected BCE Inc.’s $3.4-billion takeover of Astral Media.

Bell has announced it will ask federal Cabinet to intervene in the CRTC’s decision to reject the acquisition of Astral Media. Bell says the decision contravenes the CRTC’s own policy and is tainted by behind-the-scenes lobbying by Bell’s cable rivals.

Many had expected the regulator would approve the deal with conditions, but the decision by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission left little room for doubt where it stood, or the possibility it would view favourably an amended request by BCE (TSX:BCE).

News1130’s Parliament Hill Reporter Cormac MacSweeney was in Ottawa for the CRTC’s statement saying the controversial deal would have placed too much power in the hands of one company and threatened the competitive media landscape in Canada.

“It’s rare that you see the CRTC release a scathing decision the way it did. It basically shot down every argument that Bell tried to make to get approval for this deal. It says there is no public benefit at all for Canada.”

MacSweeney says stifling competition in Canada was of great concern. “Consumers aren’t going to get any choice when it comes to programming because one parent company would be in charge of so much of the market.”

He adds there was a more important issue, that affects consumers pocketbooks. “With somebody having such control over so many entities in broadcasting in Canada, there was a big fear that Bell could set prices, and prices could rise because they had control, and there was nothing that anybody could really do about it, and that concern was brought up to Bell, and the CRTC was not satisfied with what they heard. They said Bell failed to address the concerns they had.”

The acquisition of Astral (TSX:ACM.A) would have given BCE, already the biggest player in the English TV market, an additional 25 channels, including The Movie Network, HBO Canada and French-language Super Ecran, Family Channel and Disney Junior and more than 80 radio stations.

Phil Lind, Vice-Chairman of Rogers Communications, News1130’s parent company, issued the following statement:

“We commend the CRTC for this courageous decision. We believe that Canadians should have fair and open access to content. This is a good day for consumers.”

Click here to read the CRTC’s decision.

Advocacy group hopes for more competitive prices

An advocacy group is hoping this will mean more selection and competitive prices for consumers.

There was a huge Internet and social media campaign against the takeover, and Lindsey Pinto with OpenMedia.ca says this is good news.

“Canadians are paying higher prices for worse content and services because of the lack of real competition and choice. We were worried this deal would only serve to further that, that Bell because it’s an internet provider and a media company, it owns a lot of the content out there, and the pipes that it flows through.”

The people behind saynotobell.ca have managed to get 76,000 people to sign the petition to block this deal.