Rogers acquires Ontario radio stations

The CRTC has approved the acquisition by Rogers Communications Inc.’s media division of Tillsonburg Broadcasting Company Ltd. (TBCL), which operates two English-language stations in the small Ontario town. The deal, which Rogers announced in September, is valued at $4.2 million. It includes the purchase of TBCL’s ownership group, Lamers Holdings Inc., which will continue to own TBCL, the CRTC said in its decision Thursday. TBCL operates the two commercial radio stations CJDL-FM and CKOT-FM in Tillsonburg. But intervenor Byrnes Communications Inc. argued in its May intervention that its Woodstock station CIHR-FM sees the acquired stations as direct competitors that offer local programming to residents of Woodstock and Ingersoll and Oxford County. “Should this application be approved, Rogers would control more than 20% of all audience tuning in the Woodstock area,” constituting a higher market share than its CIHR-FM, Byrnes argued in its intervention, adding Rogers would be in control of five stations with contours targeting Oxford County after the transaction. It requested, as part of two conditions of approval, that the commission require Rogers to modify the contours of CJDL-FM or another station under its control, CHYM-FM, so that they don’t target Ingersoll and parts of Oxford County. It added it didn't oppose the purchase proposal otherwise. But the CRTC disagreed, saying Byrnes overstated the potential impact of the acquisition. It rejected the contour change request, stating “a loss of service for the listeners on the edges of the existing service areas is not warranted and would not be in the public interest.” The commission added the transaction would not compromise the programming quality of CIHR-FM because Rogers would have “little incentive” to have its CHYM-FM’s Kitchener-Waterloo station target Woodstock considering the former’s population is six times that of the latter area. “Rogers has the resources and experience to implement its business plan,” the decision read, adding the company’s ownership of the two stations would ensure their viability.

Rogers acquires Ontario radio stations

Brief | July 13, 2017

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Rogers acquires Ontario radio stations

Brief | July 13, 2017

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