Bell Media welcomes today’s Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approval of its agreement to acquire conventional TV network V along with its related digital assets, including the ad-supported VOD service Noovo.ca, from Groupe V Média.
“With this timely approval, Bell is now one step closer to ensuring the long-term viability of V at a critical moment for the broadcasting industry,” said Karine Moses, President, Bell Media Québec and Bell’s Vice Chair, Québec. “This is a new era for the Québec television ecosystem that will see Bell Media add new opportunities for French-language content creation and deliver enhanced news programming. We look forward to building on our investment in Québec content and culture with V.”
“Bell Media will be able to leverage its portfolio of assets to ensure that V and its related digital assets will thrive in a highly competitive and evolving media landscape. I am confident that the expertise of Bell Media’s management team will be able to broaden V’s scope and build a larger audience for high-quality French-language content, in a multiplatform broadcasting offering,’’ said Maxime Rémillard, President and Founder, Groupe V Média.
Combining the dedicated and experienced Montréal-based management, programming, and production teams of Bell Media and V, the successful completion of the transaction will provide Québec viewers with added diversity in news and entertainment programming on all platforms as well as extended opportunities for Québec’s advertising industry.
V Média owns and operates television stations in Montréal, Québec City, Saguenay, Sherbrooke, and Trois-Rivières, and has affiliate stations in Gatineau, Rivière-du-Loup and Val-d’Or.
