By David Farrell
Pattison Broadcast acquisition adds four stations to its portfolio
The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group has acquired Fabmar Communications Ltd. and it’s four radio station licences (and related assets) located in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, subject to CRTC approval. No financial terms have been announced.
As part of the terms of sale, Pattison has also agreed to purchase FabVision, an outdoor signage business in Saskatchewan and online news portals mychilliwacknews.com, mytowntoday.ca and yourtownnews.ca, serving the residents of Chilliwack, Whitecourt and Melfort & their respective surrounding areas.
Pattison will now own and operate 44 FM, 3 AM radio stations in western Canada, along with 16 online news portals, 3 conventional television stations and 1 outdoor video signage division, subject to regulatory approval. – Pattison media release
Is a takeover the answer to Corus woes?
Financial blogger Joey Frenette with Motley Fool suggests as much, noting the Canadian firm’s broad library of children’s programming might be an attractive buy for Disney, while its portfolio of radio, cable and TV assets could be a target for Bell Media’s acquisitive consolidation program.
In part, Frenette writes: “At this point, Corus looks like it’s in a downward spiral that will ultimately lead to a liquidation of assets at some point down the road. That is unless Corus produces its own streaming service, which I find highly unlikely.
If Disney doesn’t grab Corus’s content library, I find it likely that sooner or later Corus’s prized assets will end up in the hands of another video streamer, possibly Netflix, Inc. – Yahoo Finance
DAZN secures Italian soccer streaming rights for Canada
Sports streaming service DAZN has secured a three-year exclusive streaming rights deal for Italy’s Serie A in Canada. The service is available on smart TVs, PCs, mobile phones, tablets and games consoles at a monthly cost of C$20 or $150 per year.
Owned by Perform Group, the platform features over 6,000 live events a year, and offers users the ability to play, pause and rewind with no commercial interruptions. DAZN is currently available in Japan, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Canada on most connected devices including Smart TVs, smartphones, tablets and games consoles.
DAZN is also the home of streaming rights for the Champions League and Europa League in Canada.
DAZN has four worldwide offices located in Tokyo, London, Berlin, and Munich.
The most politically incorrect songs from yesteryear
Thanks to SOWNY Radio contributor Radio Active for pointing this article out, published on the Australian News.com.au website. Among the more obvious mentioned on the list are The Monks’ “Nice Legs, Shame About the Face” and Jimmy Soul’s “If You Wanna Be Happy (Get an Ugly Woman To Marry You).”
Fagstein’s Media News Digest updated
News about news – The Supreme Court of Canada will hear an appeal by Radio-Canada, which is seeking to prevent reporter Marie-Maude Denis from having to reveal her sources for a story about Marc-Yvan Côté, former vice-president of engineering firm Roche, who is on trial for corruption charges and has demanded Denis testify about leaks – Steve Faguy blog
Online video sub companies recreating the wheel
The digital landscape is already fragmented, and it’s continually fragmenting further, as content creators choose to become content providers. In the process, it’s beginning to resemble cable television. Each new app or content library looks like a different channel to consider, and each one is essentially a premium cable offering that requires a separate subscription to view. – Graeme Mcmillan, The Verge
