Vancouver: On Dec. 21, the crtc approved the transfer of Vancouver station ckvu from CanWest Television to a wholly owned subsidiary called CKVU Sub Inc.

The transfer, which is part of CanWest’s delayed and required divestiture of ckvu after acquiring bctv and chek from WIC Western International Communications in July, means that the recently named trustee, L.R. Sherman, will run the station after Dec. 30 until a buyer is secured and a purchase approved by the regulator.

At press time, Craig Broadcasting and Rogers Communications were the leading bidders for the station, which has an estimated value of $15 million.

CanWest had until Dec. 29 to secure a purchaser according to a crtc-imposed deadline and the regulator is supposed to approve the purchase Mar. 9.

Drew Craig, president and ceo of Craig Broadcasting, has signed a non-disclosure agreement with CanWest Global and says only, ‘We’ve always been interested in ckvu.’

Rogers Communications has been the backroom betting favorite among industry insiders. However, the broadcaster is also coy about its ckvu prospects and focuses instead on its proposal to clone cfmt on the West Coast. ‘We’re very interested in getting a multicultural channel in Vancouver,’ says Jan Innes, Rogers’ vp of Corporate Communications.

Meanwhile, Jay Switzer, senior vp and gm at ChumCity, is also enthusiastic about the sale of ckvu. ‘We’d very much like to own it, we’d very much like to buy it,’ he says. While chum has not put an official offer on the table, the broadcaster has expressed its interest to CanWest and is still waiting for a return call.

CanWest was granted a two-month extension to complete the sale of ckvu by the end of the year. Delays in resolving the ownership issue, however, have prompted concern that CanWest is intentionally stalling the process and creating a disadvantage for the new buyer – especially as the l.a. Screenings approach and program buying begins this spring.

‘We are not dragging our feet at all on this issue,’ insists Gerry Noble, president and ceo of Global Communications, citing CanWest’s applications to shift assets and establish a trust arrangement that were considered by the crtc in December.

However, in a Playback interview in November, Noble said: ‘If we could continue to operate and sell the station on our own, there would be more certainty in the market.’

crtc media spokesperson Denis Carmel says that CanWest Global was well aware it was required to sell by Dec. 29. ‘This is the first time we’ve had to press the process so far,’ he says.

In another case that set a precedent, Rogers controlled cfcn-tv in Calgary through a trust arrangement for almost four years. *