Liberty Media Group, the cable television programming arm of New York-based AT&T, has acquired a 19.9% stake in Corus Entertainment by buying 7.1 million non-voting shares at $28.05 per share.

‘It opens up a whole new level of deal flow activity that we would not ordinarily be privy to on our own,’ says Corus president and ceo John Cassaday, who will not comment on whether Corus is considering a consortium counter offer for ctv despite the fact that Corus upped its stake in the national network to almost 10% last December.

Corus plans to continue developing its base of specialty channels and radio stations in Canada and intends to increase its Internet activity, says Cassaday.

The Liberty Media deal is subject to crtc approval and the completion of the WIC Western International Communications deal between Corus, Shaw Communications and CanWest Global.

Corus shares closed at $37.50 on March 1 on the tse, $1.50 below their 52-week high.