The Federal Court of Appeal has refused to hear an appeal by Astral Media to stop the now completed sale of 11 Quebec radio stations to competitor Cogeco.
Astral was seeking leave to appeal the $80-million sale, which closed Feb. 1, of the 11 stations formerly owned by Toronto-based Corus.
Astral had claimed it was “unfair” for Cogeco to own three radio stations in the dominant Montreal market. It asked the Federal Court of Appeal in early January to block the sale.
The CRTC approved the deal in December after Corus put the Quebec stations up for sale last spring, saying it couldn’t make “adequate” returns in the Quebec market.
In approving the deal, the federal broadcast regulator relaxed a policy that restricts the number of similar broadcast outlets owned by the same company within a single market.
That means Cogeco now owns a third French-language FM station in Montreal airing talk-radio programs and a total of 16 stations in Quebec.
Cogeco spokesman Rene Guimond said the decision didn’t come as a surprise because Cogeco considered Astral’s argument to be without merit.
“So, we’re very pleased with the decision,” Guimond said.
An Astral spokesman expressed disappointment with the decision.
“In a way, the CRTC is flouting its own policies and rules of procedure,” said Astral spokesperson Hugues Mousseau.
“It’s important that the rules be clear and that they not change. If they evolve, that’s fine, but it must be done in a context that is fair for everyone–not in the framework of a study on one transaction, as was the case here.”
