Canwest Global Communications has given its five E! stations until the end of the summer to be sold or shut down, extending a deadline that was set for March 30 after fielding buyer interest.

‘The sale process has generated some interest in the stations, although it is still too early to say whether any of these will result in a sale,’ Peter Viner, interim president of Canwest Broadcasting, said in an internal memo to employees.

Viner said unspecified buyers will kick the tires at the stations in Hamilton, Victoria, Montreal, Red Deer, AB and Kelowna, BC over the coming weeks as part of due diligence before any potential sale.

‘Any decision regarding the future of these stations is unlikely to come until the end of the summer,’ he added.

With rival CTV set to shutter two of its own local stations in Windsor and Wingham, ON and a CBC/CTV affiliate in Brandon, MB, the consensus is the likely buyers of the E!-branded outlets are local consortiums rather than major players like Astral Media and Rogers Media.

Viner in his internal memo did link the E! station sales process to the upcoming CRTC licence renewal hearings for Canwest Global, raising speculation that the broadcaster may be willing to back-pedal somewhat on local station closures in return for receiving fee-for-carriage compensation and other regulatory relief.

‘In the meantime, while we are committed to this [sales] process, we will continue lobbying the federal government and the CRTC to correct the structural imbalance that is undermining local television and favoring cable and satellite companies,’ Viner reported to employees.

On another parallel track, Canwest Global faces an April 7 deadline from senior bankers to rejig a $300-million credit facility, and an April 14 deadline to make a missed payment to U.S. bondholders of US$761 million in senior notes.