Saying that the deal was not good for Canadians because it would place too much power in the hands of one company, the Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications Commission [1] said that it would not approve of Bell Canada Enterprises [2] planned purchase of Montreal-based Astral Inc. [3]
While Bell appeared most interested in Astral’s broadcast sector, the deal would also have included Astral Out-of-Home [4], including its spectacular digital billboards and its digital street furniture, a growing sector in the division.
The decision was made by recently installed commissioner Jean-Pierre Blais. Had he judged for the sale, Bell would have owned Astral Media’s 25 channels, including The Movie Network, HBO Canada and French-language Super Ecran, Family Channel and Disney Junior and more than 80 radio stations giving it 42.7% of the English viewing audience about 33.1% of the French TV market – plus the out-of-home assets.
With the exception of Shaw Communications [5], most of Bell’s competitors opposed the deal. It is expected that Bell will appeal to the federal cabinet to overrule the decision, which would be a rare event, should it happen.