Follow the Money

Understanding that media has become more concentrated is an abstract mental construction - time to break things down, especially in light of the fact that a 2006 BBC poll found that residents of many nations trust their media more than their governments.

As of 2001, there were 14 players in Canada`s daily newspaper industry. That`s a remarkably small number for a diverse and dispersed nation of over 33 million. Of the 103 papers owned by these 14 corporations, 70 were owned by the top four (Southern Publications, Quebecor Inc., Osprey media, Hollinger Cdn. N.L.P.). Since 2001, concentration has increased even further. Since newspapers are such an integral part of the information distribution network for Canadians, this is a frightening series of events. However, scarier still is how the same companies which control the flow of news through their paper chains also own local and national television channels and radio channels.

Other worrying recent events are summarized nicely in the following excerpt:

Astral Media owns 29 radio stations in Quebec and the Maritimes and 17 pay television stations (including The Movie Network, Mpix and Family Channel, and half of Teletoon). In April 2007, Astral Media announced it had struck a cash and stock deal to acquire 52 radio stations and two TV stations from Standard Broadcasting.

CanWest Global owns the Global Television Network's 11 stations as well as the three TV stations in the CH-branded network. In January 2007, in partnership with a group from Goldman Sachs, CanWest bought Alliance Atlantis, which added 13 specialty channels including Showcase, HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada and History Television. CanWest owns 11 of Canada's biggest dailies (including the National Post, The Gazette in Montreal, the Ottawa Citizen and both of Vancouver's dailies, the Vancouver Sun and The Province).

CTVglobemedia owns the CTV network and its 24 affiliates, and has full or partial ownership of 17 specialty television stations, The Globe and Mail and 35 radio stations across the country. CTVglobemedia's other conventional television assets include A-Channel, a second system that operates in major markets of Ontario and British Columbia: CKX-TV, a CBC television affiliate in Brandon, Man.; TQS; and ASN, a cable channel in Atlantic Canada.

Osprey Media owns 21 dailies in Ontario (including the Kingston Whig-Standard and Peterborough Examiner) and 36 other papers. In 2001, Osprey bought 16 dailies and 12 other papers from Hollinger International. In 2002, Osprey acquired 30 more newspapers (including four dailies) from CanWest Global.

Rogers Media owns several over-the-air and specialty TV channels (including OMNI, Rogers Sportsnet, the Shopping Channel and the Biography Channel), 44 radio stations in six provinces and magazines such as Maclean's, Chatelaine and Canadian Business. In June 2007, Rogers Media bought five Citytv stations, in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

Torstar Corp. publishes the Toronto Star, The Record in Kitchener-Waterloo, the Hamilton Spectator, and the Guelph Mercury. The company also publishes 95 community newspapers in the southern Ontario marketplace.

Quebecor Media owns eight dailies and 200 other local and community newspapers. In 2000, Quebecor bought Quebec's largest cable company, Videotron, and its French-language TV network, TVA.

Some proponents of media concentration suggest that fewer players mean that the industry is more competitive globally. They also point to the role played by the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in permitting the changes that have occurred over the past decades. However, the CRTC has been criticized for lacking the political willpower, oversight, or enforcing powers to actually resist consolidation. In fact, the history of the CRTC shows the body often reverses a previous decision, is ordered to reconsider a decision (as has happened multiple times), or simply rules according to a market-oriented values system. This commission has not earned the trust of Canadians, especially in light of the further media consolidation that is occurring each year. Please contact the CRTC, your MP, your mom and your neighbour, and help to shine a light on the issue of media concentration and the biased approach taken by the CRTC.