CBC-Quebecor conflict ends
Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and Quebecor appear to have reached a truce in their long-running public battle.
In an agreement announced Monday, the public broadcaster will now buy advertising in Quebecor media outlets, such as the Sun newspaper chain and the Journal de Montréal. Quebecor will renew an agreement to distribute CBC and Radio Canada networks and specialty channels on its Videotron television service.
"As leaders in their respective markets, we were always convinced that our newspapers made it possible for Société Radio-Canada to reach the broad audience that its mandate enjoins it to reach. We are happy to see that, by this agreement, Société Radio-Canada recognizes the value of our newspapers to achieve its objectives as a public broadcaster," Pierre Karl Péladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor Inc. said in a statement.
The companies would not elaborate on the agreement, which came after a long and public dispute.
Canadian Press reported this year Péladeau had sent a letter to CBC CEO Hubert Lacroix threatening legal action if the company didn't end its boycott of Quebecor properties.
For its part, the CBC said it didn't advertise in the Quebecor-owned papers because it wouldn't allow the company to reach its core demographic.
While Quebecor-owned media outlets aired editorials and published reports that were highly critical of the publicly funded CBC, the company's boss was actively lobbying to get a piece of the advertising pie.
Maclean's reported an access-to-information request unveiled that over a period of 15 months, Péladeau sent 12 personal letters and one handwritten fax to Lacroix to ask the CBC to advertise in his company's holdings.
This is the second time in less than six months that Quebecor has announced a truce with a rival company. In November, the company announced it had reached an agreement to allow SunTV to be distributed on the television service of Bell Canada Enterprises.
Bell stopped carrying the signal less than a month after the network launched last April, because it said it did not have a fee agreement with Quebecor.
Bell also agreed to carry three other new channels that had previously been unavailable to its subscribers: Yoopa, a children's entertainment channel, Mlle, which targets women, and TVA Sports.
Quebecor announced its Videotron digital cable service would immediately start carrying the sports channel RDS2, which is owned by Bell.
Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and Quebecor appear to have reached a truce in their long-running public battle.
In an agreement announced Monday, the public broadcaster will now buy advertising in Quebecor media outlets, such as the Sun newspaper chain and the Journal de Montréal. Quebecor will renew an agreement to distribute CBC and Radio Canada networks and specialty channels on its Videotron television service.
"As leaders in their respective markets, we were always convinced that our newspapers made it possible for Société Radio-Canada to reach the broad audience that its mandate enjoins it to reach. We are happy to see that, by this agreement, Société Radio-Canada recognizes the value of our newspapers to achieve its objectives as a public broadcaster," Pierre Karl Péladeau, president and CEO of Quebecor Inc. said in a statement.
The companies would not elaborate on the agreement, which came after a long and public dispute.
Canadian Press reported this year Péladeau had sent a letter to CBC CEO Hubert Lacroix threatening legal action if the company didn't end its boycott of Quebecor properties.
For its part, the CBC said it didn't advertise in the Quebecor-owned papers because it wouldn't allow the company to reach its core demographic.
While Quebecor-owned media outlets aired editorials and published reports that were highly critical of the publicly funded CBC, the company's boss was actively lobbying to get a piece of the advertising pie.
Maclean's reported an access-to-information request unveiled that over a period of 15 months, Péladeau sent 12 personal letters and one handwritten fax to Lacroix to ask the CBC to advertise in his company's holdings.
This is the second time in less than six months that Quebecor has announced a truce with a rival company. In November, the company announced it had reached an agreement to allow SunTV to be distributed on the television service of Bell Canada Enterprises.
Bell stopped carrying the signal less than a month after the network launched last April, because it said it did not have a fee agreement with Quebecor.
Bell also agreed to carry three other new channels that had previously been unavailable to its subscribers: Yoopa, a children's entertainment channel, Mlle, which targets women, and TVA Sports.
Quebecor announced its Videotron digital cable service would immediately start carrying the sports channel RDS2, which is owned by Bell.
