BCE Inc. expects that its new proposal to buy Astral Media will address the federal regulator's concern about the telecom giant dominating the television market.
Bell's chief regulatory officer Mirko Bibic wouldn't comment Monday on the possible sale of any radio or TV assets owned by Montreal's Astral to make the deal work. But Bibic said the new $3.38-billion proposal to buy Astral will address the CRTC's concern about market dominance. However, the companies said they cannot give specifics about the new application until the CRTC makes it public, which it is expected to do in early 2013. Astral has 25 specialty TV services, including The Movie Network, Family Channel and Disney XD, and 84 radio stations. Bell, owner of the CTV TV network, has said it wants to put Astral's content on smartphones, tablets, computers and traditional TVs, and to compete with foreign online competitors such as Netflix. The CRTC killed the deal last month, saying it wasn't in the best interests of Canadians and would have resulted in an unprecedented level of concentration in the market.
