Vancouver: CKVU’s licence expires Aug. 31 and there is still no buyer, says the West Coast office of the CRTC.

The Vancouver station – which will be cut adrift from owner CanWest Global’s television network this fall – has been on the block since July 2000 when the CRTC approved CanWest’s acquisition of market leader BCTV, sister station CHEK and other WIC Western International Communications television assets.

But the mandated sale of CKVU didn’t happen by the end of 2000 and, since the new year, the station has been placed into a trust arrangement managed by Winnipeg-based Bud Sherman and a board of six.

With the local market in a state of flux a year ago, the CRTC approved a one-year ‘administrative renewal’ of CKVU’s licence so that it could participate in the multi-station renewal hearings that begin April 17 in Hull, QC, says Michelle Edge, senior regional officer for the CRTC in Vancouver.

But given CKVU’s current status, adds Edge, it will not be part of the new hearings.

CKVU GM Don Wright won’t divulge what plans the station has in place to ride out the fall. And while Rogers Media, Craig Broadcasting and CHUM are likely buyers, no one has anted up the estimated $80-million purchase price. Meanwhile, the branding of Global will go to BCTV, which becomes the official affiliate, leaving CKVU without its valuable primetime schedule. And without a purchase, another ‘administrative renewal’ or an approved application for a new licence, CKVU could lapse into an unlicensed and uncertain future.

‘The commission has expressed concerns about the delays [in securing a sale],’ says Edge. ‘There won’t be indefinite extensions. [And] broadcasting without a licence is a serious matter.’

Financial penalties could be as high as $200,000 for a corporation.

CIBC World Markets in Toronto is handling the bids. *

-www.canwestglobal.com