In the wake of ExtendMedia’s pink slip mania – in which it has cut roughly 100 jobs (of about 160) since early November – a consortium of shareholders that includes bce, Alliance Atlantis and mwi will lend the itv pioneer $5 million to help it out for the next six months.

The completion of the interim financing, announced Dec. 22, will enable the company to honor its commitment to deliver interactive entertainment solutions to its clients across North America.

The lenders will receive warrants to purchase up to 10 million common shares at an exercise price of $0.50 per share and ExtendMedia will retain a financial advisor in the near future to help it examine strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value.

In its latest round of cuts last month, which slashed 50% of its staff and closed down its l.a. and New York offices, ExtendMedia president Steven Billinger and cfo Allan Platt were let go.

As a result of the restructuring, company founder and ceo Keith Kocho adds ‘president’ to his title.

‘It is important that the industry understands we are continually reassessing our approach to business in order to reach our objectives in both the short and long terms. Part of our flexibility means having to make the strategic decision of reorganizing the company to meet those goals. Sometimes this includes significant staff reductions,’ says Kocho.

Sixty employees are left in the company’s only remaining office, in Toronto.

Part of ExtendMedia’s market strategy is to increase its focus on Extend Programming Framework, a proprietary itv start-up package.

Prior to the interim financing, aac held a 10% interest in Extend while bce’s stake was 25.5%. *

-www.extend.com