Astral Communications
2010-2013 logo
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| Public | |
| Traded as | : ACM.A, ACM.B |
| Industry | Mass media, outdoor advertising |
| Fate | Acquired by BCE Inc. |
| Founded | August 31, 1961 |
| Defunct | July 5, 2013 |
| Headquarters | Montreal, Québec, Canada |
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Key people
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Ian Greenberg (President, CEO & co-founder) |
| Revenue |
 $1.02. billion (2012) |
| $204.4 million (2012) | |
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Number of employees
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2,800+ (2010) |
| Website | astral |
Astral Media (branded simply as Astral since 2010) was a Canadian media corporation. It was Canada's largest radio broadcaster with 84 radio stations in eight provinces, and was a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, including The Movie Network, Super Écran, Family, Télétoon, Canal D, Canal Vie, VRAK.TV, Séries+, Ztélé and more. Astral also had numerous billboards for outdoor advertising through its Astral Out-of-Home division.
In March 2012, Astral Media, Normand Beauchamp announced that it had accepted a $3.38 billion bid to be acquired by Bell Canada, a merger which would give the company's Bell Media division a larger presence in the premium television and French language media sectors. However, the proposed acquisition was met with criticism from other broadcasters and television providers, who showed concerns surrounding the combined market power that Bell would have following the merger. As a result, the acquisition was blocked by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission in October 2012. A revised merger, which saw the divesture of several Astral-owned television properties and radio stations to competing companies, was approved by the CRTC on June 27, 2013. The company lasted from its foundation in 1961 until 2013, when, after Bell's acquisition of the company was complete, it led to Bell assuming direct control of Astral Media in the form of a new Bell Media.
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