It’s been said that every cloud has a silver lining and, barely a week after Canwest filed for creditor protection, media buyers are optimistic that the media giant’s current ill health will, in the end, be a good thing for their industry.

Canwest execs last week met with the heads of media agencies, looking to build confidence and ‘clarify the facts’ surrounding the Oct. 6 filing, which includes Global Television and the National Post but not the 13 cable channels Canwest shares with Goldman Sachs & Co.

‘There’s a lot of noise and misinformation swirling around,’ says Canwest broadcasting EVP Errol Da Ré, who led the meetings along with president Peter Viner and the National Post‘s Mark Spencer. ‘We wanted to get ahead of the speculation and tell our advertisers and agencies that there is a strategic plan that will see us emerge from this filing in four to six months [as] a stronger industry competitor, with a lower debt load and a renewed financial outlook.’

The company has up to $100 million in court-approved funds and $65 million in cash reserves to operate during this period, he notes, plus a ‘very strong programming lineup.’

Da Ré says the support from the agencies has been ‘extremely positive.’

ZenithOptimedia president and CEO Sunni Boot predicts that the creditor protection will be ‘very positive’ for the industry.

‘ZenithOptimedia is a buyer,’ says Boot. ‘We want more sellers, not less. We want those sellers to be aggressive and strong so that we can access the best broadcast, digital or print media at the best price.’

‘We plan to conduct business as usual; there will be no canceling of plans,’ adds Mediaedge:cia president Bruce Neve. ‘In fact, we expect an even stronger desire by Canwest to be flexible, creative and to over deliver within the current environment. Time will tell what the three business units will look like coming out the other end.’

From Media in Canada