* After buying out several of its affiliates, Australia’s Network Ten, in which CanWest Global Communications has a 57.5% economic interest, has released plans to build a new a$20 million national headquarters complex.

Construction of the five-level, 9,300-square-meter building is set for September. When completed, the total cost will run in excess of a$40 million.

The investment is evidence of the confidence of Network Ten’s board in the long-term future of conventional television in Australia, says Izzy Asper, chairman and ceo of CanWest and deputy chairman of the Network Ten board.

CanWest is currently facing questions from the Australian parliament about the depth of its investment in broadcasting ventures.

* crtc approval is still pending the deal between Rogers Communications and cmt (u.s.), which will see cmt buying a 20% equity share in Canada’s NCN New Country Network from Rogers.

Philip Lind, Rogers vice-chair, says he’s not expecting the deal to be problematic, even though it defies the original terms of cmt’s 1984 licence. ‘The commission will still have achieved their goal of having a Canadian service on air,’ he says.

Should the foreign investment ratio increase to 33.3%, there is a clause in the agreement to increase cmt’s share to the full percentage.

ncn will not change its name until the final agreement is completed.