Media momentum starts on Stop The Takeover campaign

Image from HowardLake on Flickr

We're one day into our http://StopTheTakeover.ca/ campaign and already we're gaining incredible momentum thanks to your support.

By continuing to rally our voices against Bell's Astral takeover, we're not only making ourselves heard but we're enabling other Canadians to take action.

From The Canadian Press:

Bell's proposed $3.4-billion takeover of Astral has sparked an outcry from another coalition that's asking Canadians to oppose the deal they say will bring further harmful media concentration to Canada.

The group, calling itself the Stop The Takeover Coalition, wants Canadians to sign an online petition to the CRTC and the Competition Bureau, among others, to voice their opposition to the deal that would see Bell own more than 33 per cent of the Canadian English-language audience.

"Imagine every time you turn on your TV, computer or mobile device you are forced into a pre-selected menu of Bell content, rather than having the open, unencumbered choice you should expect. That's where this merger may be taking us," the group says on its website.

"The proposed Bell power grab will mean fewer media and telecom choices, higher prices, and less opportunity for free speech. This takeover will bring job cuts and it will act as a dead weight on our economy; it’s bad for our country."

The group is headed by Openmedia.ca, and also includes unions and lobby groups such as Canada Without Poverty, the Canadian Media Guild and the Consumers' Association of Canada. Read more »

--

Article by Steve Ladurantaye of The Globe & Mail:

A second campaign to derail BCE Inc.’s takeover of Astral Media Inc. has been launched, as a handful of advocacy groups joined together to warn the deal will lead to fewer media voices and higher cable bills.

The campaign – called Stopthetakeover.ca – is asking Canadians to send a letter to the country’s Industry Minster and Competition Bureau voicing their opposition to the $3.2-billion deal which will go before regulators for approval early next month.

It’s the second organized campaign against the deal, which would see BCE’s media division Bell Media substantially increase the amount of content it owns and distributes.

The group argues Bell will use its size to dominate smaller rivals, charging them high rates for programming that will eventually be passed to consumers.

“This would create an unprecedented level of media concentration in this country, and lower Canada’s status from having one of the least competitive media systems in the industrialized world, to having the least competitive one,” the group said.

“This could spell trouble for independent businesses seeking to compete, but more importantly, it could be the beginning of the end of real choice for Canadians.” Read more »

--

Article by Yolande Cole of The Georgia Straight

A group of organizations calling itself the Stop the Takeover Coalition is opposing Bell Canada’s proposed $3.4-billion purchase of Astral Media.

The coalition, which includes the Vancouver-based group OpenMedia.ca and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, argues the takeover could lead to higher prices and fewer choices for consumers.

“Imagine every time you turn on your TV, computer or mobile device you are forced into a preselected menu of Bell content, rather than having the open, unencumbered choice you should expect,” the coalition states on its website. “That's where this merger may be taking us.

“The proposed Bell power grab will mean fewer media and telecom choices, higher prices, and less opportunity for free speech.”

The group is encouraging Canadians to send their comments to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, the Competition Bureau, and other decision-makers to oppose the proposed takeover. Read more »