Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian mass media and television production company. Formed in 1999 as a spin-off from Shaw Communications, it has prominent holdings in the radio, publishing, and television industries. Corus is headquartered at Corus Quay in Toronto, Ontario.
Corus has a large presence in Canadian broadcasting as owner of the national Global network, 36 radio stations, and a portfolio of 25 specialty television services, the company's domestic specialty brands includes Flavour Network, Home Network, Showcase, SériesPlus, Slice, Télétoon, Treehouse, W Network, and YTV. It also operates services under brand licensing agreements with A&E Networks, Paramount Skydance, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros. Discovery. It previously held rights to WBD lifestyle brands such as Food Network and HGTV and Nickelodeon.
Corus also owns the animation studio Nelvana, and children's publisher Kids Can Press. The second incarnation of Shaw's media division was subsumed by Corus on April 1, 2016, giving it control of the over-the-air Global network and 19 additional specialty channels. In May 2019, Shaw announced that it would sell its shares in Corus for roughly $500 million.
History
Establishment
In August 1987, Shaw Communications expanded into broadcasting by acquiring two Red Deer radio stations, CIZZ-FM and CKGY-FM. Further acquisitions by Shaw during this period included CISN-FM Edmonton, CHAY-FM Barrie, CKDK-FM Woodstock, and CFOX-FM and CKLG-AM Vancouver. In 1995, it acquired CUC Broadcasting's 34% stake of YTV. Shaw acquired Rogers' remaining shares of YTV in 1998.In September 1998, JR Shaw and Shaw Media CEO John Cassaday announced plans for Shaw to spin off its media properties—including radio stations and television specialty channels—into a new company that would be known as Corus Entertainment; the spin-off would leave Shaw as "pure play" telecommunications company. The decision was meant to comply with Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission recommendations that discouraged the vertical integration of broadcasters and television providers. Corus would be a separate, publicly traded company, first listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in September 1999, but it would still be primarily controlled by the Shaw family.
In September 1999, Corus acquired the broadcasting assets of the Power Corporation of Canada, which included four television stations and sixteen radio stations. One of these stations, CHAU-TV, was later re-sold to Télé Inter-Rives. In October 1999, after a battle between Shaw and Canwest for control of the company, it was announced that Western International Communications would be split between the two companies: Corus would acquire WIC's 12 radio stations and most of its specialty channels, including stakes in Family Channel, SuperChannel and MovieMax!.
Growth and acquisitions
In September 2000, after negotiations and rumoured offers by other studios, Corus announced that it would acquire the Toronto-based animation studio Nelvana for $540 million; the deal was considered to be a complement to its children's television networks, including YTV, Treehouse, and its stakes in Family Channel, Teletoon, and its French counterpart Télétoon. Corus also stated that it planned to use the purchase to help launch a preschool-oriented cable network in the U.S.In March 2001, in response to complaints by the CRTC over its near-monopoly on ownership of children's specialty channels in Canada, Corus sold its stake in Family Channel to Astral Media for $126.9 million, making it a sister channel to The Movie Network and giving them full ownership. Corus also sold its stake in the Western Canadian pay-per-view service Viewers Choice to Shaw for $22.6 million, and acquired the Women's Television Network from Shaw for $132.6 million. In August 2002, Corus sold CKDO and CKGE-FM to Durham Radio.
On March 4, 2002, Corus announced that it would sell Klutz, which had been acquired two years prior as part of their purchase of Nelvana, to American publishing company Scholastic with the acquisition being completed by the following month. In May of that same year, Corus announced that it had acquired a 50% stake in Locomotion, a Latin American Spanish-language channel focusing primarily of animated television series targeting teens and young adults. Hearst Corporation owned the other half.
In 2003, Doug Murphy replaced John Cassaday as CEO.
In March 2004, Corus and Astral announced that it would acquire and swap radio stations in Quebec; Corus acquired the Radiomédia network, Quebec City's CFOM, and Sherbrooke's CKTS, while Astral acquired CFVM-FM Amqui, CJOI-FM and CIKI-FM Rimouski, CFZZ-FM Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, and CJDM-FM Drummondville. Corus also sold its Red Deer, Alberta stations CKGY-FM and CIZZ-FM to Newcap Radio.
In July 2007, Corus acquired CKBT-FM and CJZZ-FM from Canwest. In June 2008, CHRC was sold to the ownership group of the Quebec Remparts hockey team.
Additional partnerships, Corus Québec sale
In August 2007, Corus Entertainment announced a partnership with Hearst Corporation to launch Cosmopolitan TV. In March 2008, CTVglobemedia sold Canadian Learning Television to Corus for $73 million.Corus launched a Canadian version of Nickelodeon on November 2, 2009, replacing the localized version of Discovery Kids. In 2010, Shaw Communications re-entered the broadcasting industry through its acquisition of the media assets of the bankrupt Canwest, which re-formed the Shaw Media division.
On April 30, 2010, Corus announced that it would sell its Québec radio stations, with the exception of CKRS, to Cogeco for $80 million, pending CRTC approval. Corus cited their low profitability in comparison to their stations elsewhere as reasoning for the sale. On June 25, it was reported that Corus had agreed to sell CKRS to Radio Saguenay, a local business group. The sale of the Corus Québec stations was approved by the CRTC on December 17, 2010, on the condition that Cogeco-owned CJEC-FM and Corus-owned CFEL-FM and CKOY-FM be sold to another party by December 2011.
On September 28, 2010, the company relocated its broadcasting headquarters from 64 Jefferson Avenue to the newly built Corus Quay.
On November 9, 2010, Hasbro Studios signed an agreement with Corus to broadcast their productions on its networks.
In March 2012, Corus and Shaw launched ABC Spark, a localized version of U.S. cable network ABC Family, with Shaw owning 49%. In July 2012, the Teletoon Canada venture similarly launched a Canadian version of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.
Re-organization
In March 2013, as part of Bell Media's proposed acquisition of Astral Media, Corus reached a deal to acquire Astral's stakes in Historia, Séries+, and Teletoon Canada Inc., as well as the Ottawa radio stations CJOT-FM and CKQB-FM, for $400.6 million. This aspect of the deal, intended to quell concerns from the CRTC regarding Bell's total market share after the merger, was approved by the Competition Bureau on March 18, 2013. In an unrelated deal, Corus also announced that it would acquire Shaw Media's stakes in ABC Spark, Historia, and Séries+ in exchange for cash and its minority stake in Food Network Canada. Corus indicated that these purchases were meant to help the company expand its television holdings in the competitive Quebec market. Corus also planned to open a new office in Montreal following the sale. On January 1, 2014, the acquisition was completed.On September 1, 2013, Corus's television business was reorganized into five divisions; Corus Kids, Corus Women and Family, Corus Content Distribution and Pay TV, Corus Airtime Sales and Corus Média. The Corus Kids division was subdivided into operations for their eight TV channels, Nelvana, and Kids Can Press.
Acquisition of Disney Channel program rights, closure of Movie Central
On April 16, 2015, Corus Entertainment announced that it had reached an agreement with the Disney–ABC Television Group to acquire long-term, Canadian multi-platform rights to distribute Disney Channel's programming library and associated brands; the agreement succeeded a previous agreement with Family Channel and DHX Media. As part of the agreement, Corus launched Disney Channel and the French-language La Chaîne Disney on September 1, 2015, while new Corus-owned Disney Junior and Disney XD channels would launch at a later date. Corus also discontinued the Teletoon Retro brand the same day: the programming of Cartoon Network was moved under the license of the English version, and the French version was relaunched as the aforementioned La Chaîne Disney.On November 20, 2015, Corus announced that it would close Movie Central and Encore Avenue on March 1, 2016, in order to focus more on its mainstream specialty channels. Corus reached an agreement to migrate Movie Central subscribers to Bell Media's The Movie Network and TMN Encore, ending the regional monopolies that TMN and Movie Central held in eastern and western Canada respectively. Bell Media made a payment of $211 million to Corus for assistance in coordinating this migration, which included waiving its joint rights to HBO programming to Bell.
Acquisition of Shaw Media
On January 13, 2016, Corus Entertainment announced that it would acquire Shaw Media for $2.65 billion, with Shaw Communications taking a 39% share of Corus stock. The division consisted primarily of the broadcasting assets of the former Canwest, including the Global broadcast network and 19 other specialty channels, such as Food Network, HGTV, Showcase, History, and Slice. The transaction was being used to fund Shaw Communications' purchase of wireless carrier Wind Mobile. Corus CEO Doug Murphy described the acquisition as "transformational" and " Corus and Canada's media landscape".As Corus and Shaw were both controlled by the Shaw family, the CRTC officially classified the transaction as a reorganization of its assets. This meant that it was exempt from regulatory scrutiny such as concentration of media ownership and tangible benefits rules. The reorganization was approved on March 23, 2016, and completed on April 1, 2016. At the same time, multiple Shaw Media executives joined Corus, and the company adopted a new logo.
On October 17, 2017, Bell Media announced its intent to acquire Historia and Séries+ from Corus for $200 million, which would have reunited them with former Astral Media channels such as Canal D, Canal Vie, Vrak, and Z. Corus stated that the two channels were not part of its "strategic priorities" at this time. On May 28, 2018, the sale was blocked and rejected by the Competition Bureau, for violating conditions imposed on Bell that prohibits the company from regaining ownership of divested Astral properties for 10 years.