Subsidiary | |
Industry | Media (Television, Radio, Digital Media) |
Predecessor |
CHUM Limited Craig Media Electrohome Mid-Canada Communications Telegram Corporation Access Media Group Astral Media |
Founded | 1960 (as Baton Broadcasting) 2001 (as Bell Globemedia) 2007 (as CTVglobemedia) 2011 (as Bell Media) |
Headquarters | 299 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Area served
|
Canada |
Key people
|
Randy Lennox President, Bell Media Stuart Garvie President, Media Sales and Marketing, Bell Media Tracey Pearce President, Distribution and Pay Stewart Johnston President, Bell Media Studios and TSN |
Number of employees
|
5,000+ |
Parent | BCE Inc. |
Divisions |
CTV Inc. Bell Media Radio |
Website | bellmedia.ca |
Private/Joint venture | |
Industry | Media (television, radio, newspapers) |
Fate |
|
Successor | Bell Media |
Founded | 1960 (as Baton Broadcasting) 2001 (as Bell Globemedia) 2007 (as CTVglobemedia) |
Defunct | April 1, 2011 |
Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Key people
|
Ivan Fecan, President and CEO; CEO, CTV Kevin Crull, COO; president-designate (mid-2011) |
Owner |
The Woodbridge Company (Thomson family) (40%) Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (25%) Torstar (20%) BCE Inc. (15%) |
Divisions | The Globe and Mail, CTV, CHUM Radio (now Bell Media Radio) |
Website | www.ctvglobemedia.com |
Bell Media Inc. (French: Bell Média) is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the parent company of the former telephone monopoly Bell Canada). Its operations include television broadcasting and production (including the CTV and CTV Two television networks), radio broadcasting (through Bell Media Radio), digital media (including CraveTV) and Internet properties including Sympatico.ca.
Bell Media is the successor-in-interest to Baton Broadcasting (later CTV Inc.), one of Canada's first private-sector television broadcasters. The company in its current form was originally established as Bell Globemedia by BCE and the Thomson family in 2001 combining CTV Inc., which Bell had acquired the previous year, and the operations of the Thomsons' The Globe and Mail. Bell sold the majority of its interest in 2006 (at which point the company was renamed CTVglobemedia), but re-acquired the entire company, excluding the Globe, in 2011.
For all practical purposes, Bell Media is the successor to Baton Broadcasting Inc. (/ˈbeɪtɒn/ BAY-ton), which by the late 1990s had become one of Canada's largest broadcasters.
Baton Aldred Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. was originally formed in 1960 to operate Toronto's first private TV station, CFTO-TV. The original investors included the Bassett and Eaton families, Joel Aldred and Ted Rogers, and Foster Hewitt in a much smaller role. Aldred sold his shares in 1961, followed by Rogers by 1970; with the Bassett and Eaton families firmly in control, the company went public in the early 1970s. CFTO was one of the charter affiliates of CTV when that network formed in 1961, becoming the network's flagship. In 1966, Baton became a part-owner in the network when it was reorganized as a station-owned cooperative. The Board of Broadcast Governors was initially skeptical about the proposal to turn CTV into a cooperative. Since CFTO was by far the largest and richest station in the network, the BBG feared Baton would take advantage of this to dominate the network. However, it approved the deal after Baton and the other owners included a provision in the cooperative's bylaws stipulating that the eight station owners would each have a single vote regardless of audience share. Additionally, if one owner ever bought another station, the acquired station's shares would be redistributed among the remaining owners so that each owner would still have one vote out of eight.