WildBrain is renegotiating certain commercial aspects of an agreement to sell its TV channels to Halifax-based animation studio IoM Media Ventures, after Bell Canada notified WildBrain it would cease to carry them.

Signed in December 2024, the original deal called for IoM to buy a 66.6% majority share of WildBrain’s channels business for around $40 million over the next four years. Family Channel, Family Jr., WildBrain TV and Télémagino were all included in the package.

WildBrain was to retain a 33.3% stake—and no longer be subject to restrictions under the Broadcasting Act that give Canadian shareholders more voting power than non-Canadians. According to WilBrain, this would give the company “greater strategic flexibility and opportunities,” which could possibly include exploring an acquisition by an international buyer.

But a carriage dispute with Bell has disrupted the deal. WildBrain had filed a complaint in 2023 claiming that Bell Canada put WildBrain at an “undue disadvantage and [gave] undue preference” to kids TV channels run by Corus. The CRTC dismissed the complaint in March, ruling that this was not the case.

WildBrain, according to a Monday (April 14) release, says that Bell has since given notice that it plans to stop distributing WildBrain’s channels as the two companies were unable to come to a new carriage agreement for the channels.

Losing the Bell distribution is a blow to the valuation of WildBrain’s channels and the sales deal, says president and CEO Josh Scherba (pictured) in a statement. “Bell’s decision to remove the channels from its distribution service will require us to revise certain aspects of the transaction with IoM, but we are optimistic we can arrive at a deal that works for both of us.”

In the last five years, WildBrain’s channels have greenlit more than 15 seasons of original Canadian productions, including Summer Memories (A&N Productions, Aircraft Pictures and Yeti Farm Creative) and The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy (Lopii Productions).

WildBrain is looking to sell them off as part of a broader corporate strategy to simplify its business and focus on key franchises such as Peanuts, Strawberry Shortcake and Teletubbies.

A version of this story originally appeared in Kidscreen

Image courtesy of WildBrain