Rogers Media announced plans early Monday to acquire the A-Channels, Access Alberta, SexTV and other CHUM properties from its parent-to-be CTVglobemedia for $137.5 million.

The all-cash transaction includes the A-Channel station group (CIVI Victoria, CHWI Windsor, CKNX Wingham, CFPL London, CKVR Barrie, CHRO Ottawa), the educaster Access Alberta, Canadian Learning Television, the digital SexTV: The Channel and CKX-Television, a conventional CBC affiliate based in Brandon, MB.

The deal will go through only if the CRTC approves CGM’s takeover of CHUM.

‘The acquisition of these 10 television services will significantly expand our television operations and solidify our position as an important participant in the Canadian television industry. This also complements our strong position in Canadian radio, sports broadcasting and publishing,’ said Rogers Broadcasting president Rael Merson in a statement.

‘This acquisition will both provide for diversity of local voices and give Rogers the scale to emerge as the fourth national English-language over-the-air player together with CTV, CanWest and the CBC,’ added CGM president and CEO Ivan Fecan.

CHUM took over the A-Channel brand when it bought out Craig Media in 2004, and applied the name to some of its stations in B.C. and Ontario. But the six stations have been a drain on CHUM’s coffers, according to industry analyst Ian Morrison of watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.

Just prior to the sale, Morrison expressed that such a move would hurt news coverage in A-Channel territory – central Ontario in particular.

‘The A-Channels are not making money – they’re one of the anchors driving CHUM down,’ Morrison told Playback Daily. ‘So anyone who bought that, whoever they are, if they want to make it make money, they’re going to have to cut costs. And cut costs means less quality and less quantity of news about that area, and it’s the only one that exists.’

But Sunni Boot, president and CEO of the Toronto media buying firm ZenithOptimedia, says the proposed sale is a smart move. ‘Obviously, Rogers are no fools, so if they’re willing to pay that price tag, they must see value.

‘Those stations are well, well down the consideration list, but they are excellent to put in the portfolio because they do tend to balance our costs. For us to have another player, an independent company, is a good thing,’ she says. ‘But I don’t really see the stations taking off. There’s not a lot of growth in the conventional area.’

Scott Stewart, an account director with Toronto-based Genesis Media, predicts that the deal will mean some content challenges. ‘The issue is how are they going to source content? I don’t understand how a third-tier station like this will be able to really compete out there,’ he says. ‘With CHUM, you had existing content they could shuffle or spill out to other stations, but now they’re starting over.’

From Media in Canada, with files from Andrea Damiani