Bell/Astral Merger: The Eternal Optimists perspective

Bell Media has bought Astral Media.  The sentence means nothing if you don't follow media business, but if you do it means that Bell media has become one of the largest media companies in the country.  They say they made the purchase to gain a foothold in Quebec, where their largest competitor is QuebecOr parent company to the Sun Media Newspaper chain.  In small part it is about that, but a much larger part is providing content for smartphone, and web platforms.

Critics raise concerns about the concentration of ownership.  With the purchase Bell Media adds to their properties television stations TMN (The Movie Network), and HBO Canada, as well as radio stations in Quebec, and Ontario.  In Toronto alone the purchase will bring NewsTalk1010, Boom97.3, and Virgin 99.9 under the same banner as the Chum family of radio stations.  Another concern has to be about editorial voice; I'd have to imagine  the new company will speak with one singular voice across all platforms, for example: if the company is pro Conservative on a given issue then that could be reflected in the way stories are covered across all platforms. For people who crave a different point of view having that singular voice isn't a good thing.

I don't think it's a done deal yet. The CRTC (Canadian Radio Telecommunications Commission), and the Competition Bureau still have to look at it. I think both will have to consider the big picture; how this deal will impact on Bell's last deal which saw them purchase a chunk of the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (including the Air Canada Centre, LeafsTV, and Raptors TV). 

The competition bureau will look at the monopoly angle of it.  Using the Toronto example, that will bring several stations in the Toronto under the same banner.  I'd imagine Bell Media would be asked to likely sell at least one of them off.  In an obvious position to benefit would be Rogers Communications.  However, I don't think they would being in a similar position to Bell Media; the two companies are rivals in a sense.

This is where the short-term confusion becomes long-term calm.  Being an eternal optimist I believe that after all these deals are put under a microscope, and all the negotiations finished; the smaller companies will eventually benefit.    There is always room for another voice; Astral may have merged with Bell.  But there could be someone out there getting ready to create another company  to replace Astral or that will do something better than what came before.  In an era of constant demand for content there could eventually be a place where freelancers prosper.  The Bell-Astral Merger could be doom and gloom now, but it could all work out in the end.