CRTC Rejects Bell-Astral Merger

OTTAWA-GATINEAU: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has blocked the proposed takeover of Astral Media by Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE), which is now asking for the federal Cabinet to intervene in the decision.

The CRTC struck down BCE’s bid to acquire control of Astral’s TV and radio services because it said that the move is not in the public interest. The transaction, the CRTC argues, would have raised substantial concerns about healthy competition, the concentration of ownership in the TV and radio markets, vertical integration and the exercise of market power in an anti-competitive manner.

“BCE failed to persuade us that the deal would benefit Canadians,” said Jean-Pierre Blais, the chairman of the CRTC. “It would have placed significant market power in the hands of one of the country’s largest media companies. We could not have ensured a robust Canadian broadcasting system without imposing extensive and intrusive safeguards, which would have been to the detriment of the entire industry.”

BCE has fired back, announcing that it will request intervention from the federal Cabinet.

"This is a decision that should not stand. Canadian consumers were told today by the CRTC that they don’t deserve more—more choice, more competition, more Canadian content funding—all of which Bell and Astral committed to with this transaction," said George Cope, the president and CEO of Bell Canada and BCE Inc. "We met all the CRTC’s rules, indeed our acquisition of Astral was based directly on the CRTC’s currently in-place Diversity of Voices policy. The wide-ranging benefits to Canadians of the transaction are clear, but the CRTC has told consumers that they and the rules in place just don’t matter."

"That the CRTC was not guided by its own rules is a grave concern," said Kevin Crull, the president of Bell Media. "In fact, this is just the latest in a series of decisions where the commission held hearings, established rules…and then inexplicably ignored them when Bell moved forward with a strategic investment. This sends a strong message that Canadian broadcasting regulation is impetuous and unreliable."

"A combined Bell-Astral would grow the entire Canadian broadcasting industry to the benefit of consumers and content creators," Crull continued. "Instead, the CRTC has decided to favor the interests of unregulated U.S. broadcast channels and Internet television providers, while blatantly protecting the interests of cable companies, such as Québecor, which continues to dominate the French-language media market."