XPost: can.politics, mtl.general   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   December 10, 2014 -  Globe and Mail   
      
   Media mogul Moses Znaimer in talks to buy Sun News Network   
      
   The deal would see ZoomerMedia pick up the news and opinion channel from   
   Quebecor before the year is over   
      
      
      
   Television entrepreneur Moses Znaimer is hoping to expand his reach on the TV   
   dial by acquiring the money-losing Sun News Network from Quebecor Inc.   
      
   According to a source familiar with the negotiations, Mr. Znaimer is eager to   
   make a deal that would see ZoomerMedia Ltd., a company he controls, buy the   
   news and opinion channel before the year is over. Mr. Znaimer currently has   
   exclusive negotiating rights, and the price of the purchase would be low, the   
   source said.   
      
   Once the architect of CITY-TV, Mr. Znaimer now owns a stable of TV, radio and   
   other media properties targeting an audience aged 45 and older – what   
   ZoomerMedia calls "the world's largest and most affluent generation." Buying   
   the Sun network would give him another foothold in television.   
      
   Mr. Znaimer did not return e-mails requesting comment, and a member of his   
   staff said "No comment" when reached by phone.   
      
   Quebecor's vice-president of public affairs, Martin Tremblay, also declined to   
   discuss any potential sale. "We have a policy to not comment on rumours   
   concerning our mix of assets," he said.   
      
   ZoomerMedia's flagship channel is VisionTV, but its also owns One: Body, Mind   
   and Spirit, JoyTV and HopeTV, as well as the Classical 96.3 FM radio station   
   and other media assets. Sources said Mr. Znaimer appears to want to return to   
   his roots, rebooting in some fashion the CITY-TV model that made him a   
   household name in Canadian television.   
      
   Part of Sun News Network's appeal is that it has a Category C broadcasting   
   license, which means all TV distributors must offer the channel to customers,   
   both on a standalone basis and in bundles of news channels, thanks to new rules   
   set late last year by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications   
   Commission (CRTC).   
      
   ZoomerMedia would have to maintain the channel as a national news outlet, or   
   risk losing that privilege by applying to change the terms of the license. As   
   it stands, only 10 per cent of the channel's monthly programming can be in a   
   genre other than news.   
      
   Sun News Network's future has been in question since early October, when   
   Postmedia Network Canada Corp. announced it was buying the Sun chain of   
   newspapers from Quebecor as part of a $316-million deal.   
      
   The Sun TV network had drawn on the Sun papers' resources for editorial   
   content.   
      
   At the time, Postmedia president and CEO Paul Godfrey said his company hadn't   
   considered Sun News Network as part of the purchase because "it wasn't for   
   sale."   
      
   He said Postmedia would license the Sun name to the channel for one year.   
      
   Even before the Postmedia-Sun Media deal, however, Sun News Network had   
   struggled financially.   
      
   The channel launched in 2011 and its outspoken, opinionated slant has drawn   
   numerous complaints from viewers and rebukes from regulators, often over   
   segments and on-air comments by Ezra Levant, one of its most recognizable   
   hosts.   
      
   Over the next three years, it posted losses of $46.7-million, according to CRTC   
   figures, losing $14.8-million in 2013, when the channel generated less than   
   $8-million in revenue from 4.8 million subscribers.   
      
   Over the past year, Quebecor has reshuffled its media assets with the Postmedia   
   deal, which is still awaiting regulatory approval, and a separate sale of 74   
   community newspapers to Transcontinental Inc.   
      
   In November, Quebecor also bought 15 magazines from Transcontinental, including   
   The Hockey News and Canadian Living.   
      
   Mr. Znaimer controls 64.3 per cent of ZoomerMedia's common shares through a   
   company he owns called Olympus Management Ltd. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.   
   holds 26.9 per cent of common shares through a subsidiary, and the remainder   
   are widely held.   
   __________________________________________________________   
      
   Early life and career   
      
   Znaimer was born to Polish and Latvian Jewish parents who had fled the Nazi   
   invasion of the Soviet Union and relocated to Kulyab in the Soviet republic of   
   Tajikistan. Following the war his family landed in a German Displaced Persons   
   camp, ultimately ending up in Montreal in 1948. He graduated from McGill   
   University in Montreal with a B.A. in philosophy and politics (and served as   
   president of the McGill Debating Union), and from Harvard University with an   
   M.A. in government in the mid-1960s.   
      
   Znaimer's career in broadcasting began when he joined the Canadian Broadcasting   
   Corporation (CBC) in the mid-1960s. He became well known for his work as host   
   of CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup, as well as co-host of CBC Television's   
   Take 30 with Adrienne Clarkson. After being denied the opportunity to pursue   
   his creative vision at the CBC, Znaimer quit and went into private   
   broadcasting.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)