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Media Concentration in Canada

The buzzword in Canadian media circles over the last decade has been "convergence" - the concentration of ownership of Canadian print, radio and television media in fewer and fewer hands. As a result, a few key players now control groupings that include all major forms of media. Currently, essentially six corporations own virtually every television station, radio station and major or community newspaper in Canada.

Bell Globemedia is the biggest converged media conglomerate, created through the partnership of the Thomson Corporation (owners of The Globe & Mail) and Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) Inc. The new company owns CTV, The Globe, CKY (Manitoba's CTV affiliate), ROBtv and TSN, as well as 70 per cent of CFCF, Montreal's largest English-language television station. Bell Globemedia also owns Sympatico-Lycos.

The CanWest Global empire, based in Winnipeg and controlled by the Asper family, is the largest owner of daily newspapers in the country, with 14 English language dailies in different cities as well as the National Post. CanWest also owns over 100 community newspapers and the internet news source Canada.com. Its television holdings include the Global television network, comprised of 11 stations, Prime TV and five television stations not affiliated with the Global chain - in Kelowna, Red Deer, Victoria, Montreal and Hamilton. CanWest's international holdings include radio and television stations.

The G.T.C. Transcontinental Group Ltd. is Quebec-based, and is one of the largest printers in North America. The company owns 79 community newspapers, including the majority of Quebec weeklies, and publishes dozens of specialty magazines.

Calgary-based Shaw Communications Inc. has a media subsidiary, Corus Entertainment, which owns 49 radio and television stations, along with a television production and distribution company. Shaw's communication holdings grew when it bought Moffatt Communications (which owned Videon and WTN) in 2001 for $1.2 billion.

The Quebecor Company owns the Sun newspaper chain, with 16 dailies across the country, along with the internet news provider Canoe.ca and the TVA television network in Quebec. Quebecor's parent company, QuebecorWorld, is the world's largest commercial printer.

The final major player is Rogers Communications, the country's largest cable television company, which owns The Shopping Channel, Toronto's CFMT (soon expanding into Vancouver), and 70 per cent of Sportsnet. Rogers also publishes over 60 magazines, including Maclean's and Canadian Business, and owns 29 radio stations across the country.