BLUEBERRY5 wrote: June 14, 2024
Mrs. Vicky Eatrides
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
Mrs. Eatrides,
I am writing about CORUS ENTERTAINMENT INC., which public company is currently suspected of inappropriate demeanours whether involving its management officials and/or Board of directors.
On June 7, 2024, the company issued the Press Release below.
June 7, 2024
For Immediate Release
TORONTO, June 7, 2024 – Corus Entertainment Inc. (TSX: CJR.B) (“Corus” or “the Company”) is providing an update today that it has been informed by Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. that some of its programming and trademark output arrangements will not be renewed upon their expiry on December 31, 2024. This affects content on certain Corus-operated specialty channels. Corus does not currently expect changes to the programming of the channels until 2025.
“I want to reinforce Corus’ intent to continue operating the country’s largest and most widely distributed lifestyle channels based on the strength of top-rated Canadian programs and alternate foreign content supply,” said Troy Reeb, EVP, Networks and Content of Corus. “We have an exceptional fall schedule coming in September and a vast amount of Canadian and U.S. content to carry us into the future.”
“This is an unfortunate example of inequitable structural relationships in the Canadian media and telecom industries, particularly affecting independent broadcasters like Corus,” added Doug Murphy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Corus. “It highlights the urgent need for regulatory reform, including to rules affecting how market-dominant players interact with suppliers and competitors. Corus intends to explore all potential remedies. We look forward to adapting and advancing our strategies while we pursue new opportunities through our other content suppliers.”
Corus is Canada’s largest independent media company, delivering diverse entertainment options and award-winning news across its 15 Global television stations, 33 specialty channels, 39 radio stations, and streaming services including STACKTV and the Global TV app.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking information and should be read subject to the following cautionary language:
To the extent any statements made in this press release contain information that is not historical, these statements are forward-looking statements and may be forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking information”). This forward-looking information relates to, among other things, the Company’s objectives, goals, strategies, targets, intentions, plans, estimates and outlook, including the adoption and anticipated impact of the Company’s strategic plan, advertising and expectations of advertising trends for fiscal 2024, subscriber revenue and anticipated subscription trends, distribution, production and other revenue, the Company’s dividend policy and the payment of future dividends; the Company’s leverage target; the Company’s ability to manage retention and reputation risks related to its on-air talent; expectations regarding financial performance, including capital allocation strategy and capital structure management, operating costs and tariffs, taxes and fees, and can generally be identified by the use of words such as “believe”, “anticipate”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “will”, “may” or the negatives of these terms and other similar expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances may be considered forward-looking information.
Although Corus believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves assumptions, risks and uncertainties and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied with respect to the forward-looking information, including without limitation, factors and assumptions regarding the general market conditions and general outlook for the industry including: the impact of recessionary conditions and continuing supply chain constraints; the potential impact of new competition and industry mergers and acquisitions; changes to applicable tax, licensing and regulatory regimes; inflation and interest rates, stability of the advertising, subscription, production and distribution markets; changes to key suppliers or clients; operating and capital costs and tariffs, taxes and fees, the Company’s ability to source, produce or sell desirable content and the Company’s capital and operating results being consistent with its expectations. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such information.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these expectations include, among other things: the Company’s ability to attract, retain and manage fluctuations in advertising revenue; the Company’s ability to maintain relationships with key suppliers and clients and on anticipated financial terms and conditions; audience acceptance of the Company’s television programs and cable networks; the Company’s ability to manage retention and reputation risks related to its on-air talent; the Company’s ability to recoup production costs; the availability of tax credits; the availability of expected news, production and related credits, programs and funding; the existence of co-production treaties; the Company’s ability to compete in any of the industries in which it does business including with competitors which may not be regulated in the same way or to the same degree; the business and strategic opportunities (or lack thereof) that may be presented to and pursued by the Company; conditions in the entertainment, information and communications industries and technological developments therein; changes in laws or regulations or the interpretation or application of those laws and regulations including statements, decisions or positions by applicable regulators including, without limitation, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (“CRTC”), Canadian Heritage and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (“ISED”); changes to licensing status or conditions; unanticipated or un-mitigatable programming costs; the Company’s ability to integrate and realize anticipated benefits from its acquisitions and to effectively manage its growth; the Company’s ability to successfully defend itself against litigation matters and complaints; failure to meet covenants under the Company’s senior credit facility, senior unsecured notes or other instruments or facilities; epidemics, pandemics or other public health and safety crises in Canada and globally; physical and operational changes to the Company’s key facilities and infrastructure; cybersecurity threats or incidents to the Company or its key suppliers and vendors; and changes in accounting standards.
Additional information about these factors and about the material assumptions underlying any forward-looking information may be found under the heading “Risks and Uncertainties” in the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the year ended August 31, 2023 and under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Information Form for the year ended August 31, 2023. Corus cautions that the foregoing list of important assumptions and factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on the Company’s forward-looking information to make decisions with respect to Corus, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Unless otherwise specified, all forward-looking information in this document speaks as of the date of this document and may be updated or amended from time to time. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Corus disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, events or circumstances that arise after the date thereof or otherwise.
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On June 12, 2024 i have e-mailed each separately the following executives at Corus, urging them to wake up and remedy immediately to the insane share price value, which has tumbled approximately 63%, up to date, since the June 7, 2024 announcement.
Doug Murphy
President and CEO
doug.murphy@corusent.com
Jennifer C. Lee
Executive Vice President
General Counsel and Press Secretary
jennifer.c.lee@corusent.com
John Gossling
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
john.gossling@corusent.com
Cheryl Fullerton
Executive Vice President
People and Communications
cheryl.fullerton@corusent.com
Shawn Kelly
Executive Vice President
Technology
shawn.kelly@corusent.com
Greg McLelland
Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer
greg.mclelland@corusent.com
Troy Reeb
Vice President
Networks and Content
troy.reeb@corusent.com
CORUS has to proceed to a MAJOR SALE OF ASSETS, along with a 1:10 CJR.B shares rollback in order to wipe out this current insane penny-stock value of roughly .25, failing which it will land into bankruptcy or be taken private, if not subject to a takeover, at a dirt cheap price. It is an awfully mismanaged public company that did not even bothered slashing its quarterly dividend when the stock traded in the $3-$4 range. It is a terrible tragedy from the "SHAW family" to have let the company be destroyed, leaving hundreds if not thousands of shareholders financially broked with their investments.
For heaven sake, please ensure this message gets through the mind of all executives, in order to take all required bold actions to restore the credibility and survival of CORUS.
Respectfully,
-shareholder-
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On July 13, 2024, a Bloomberg News article entitled Corus shares may be worth 'zero' after Rogers-Warner deal, TD says reported that the Shaw family, the controlling shareholder of CORUS through the ownership of the company's voting shares, has its wealth more closely tied to Rogers after they sold their cable and internet distributor, Shaw Communications Inc., to Rogers last year in a $20 billion transaction. Bradley Shaw is on the Rogers Communications board, while Heather Shaw and Julie Shaw are respectively Chair and Vice Chair of Corus Board of Directors.
Corus Entertainment Inc. is held as follows:
85.59% by JRS Ltd. (ownership details listed below)
0.06% by the Estate of James R. Shaw and Family
0.16% by Brad Shaw and Family
0.14% by Julie Shaw and Family
0.12% by Heather Shaw and Family
0.13% by Carol Shaw
13.43% by others (Canadian)
0.36% by others (non-Canadian)
JRS Ltd. is 100% held by the Shaw Family Living Trust.
The Shaw Family Living Trust is 100% held by SFLTCO Ltd., acting as trustee of the trust.
SFLTCO Ltd. is controlled by its board of directors.
Could lose Canadian rights to programming on five key channels, including HGTV and Food Network
Bloomberg News
Aimee Look
Published Jun 13, 2024
Shares of Canadian media company Corus Entertainment Inc. may be worth zero if Rogers Communications Inc. is successful in snatching away programming and trademark deals for channels owned by Warner Bros Discovery Inc., according to analysts at TD Cowen. Corus, an independent television and radio company that’s controlled by the Shaw family of Alberta, is at risk of losing the Canadian rights to programming on five key channels, including HGTV and the Food Network. Rogers said Monday it signed an agreement with Warner to become the rights holder to those TV brands, starting in January.
If Rogers succeeds in taking over the specialty cable channels “with no compensation for Corus, then our forecasts will be seriously impacted and the equity value of CJR.B shares will likely be zero,” TD analyst Vince Valentini wrote in a report to clients.
The channels are vital to Corus’ business, yielding about $155 million in revenue per year and $50 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
“Corus also has branding and content deals with other key U.S. channels and studios, such as Disney, the History Channel, and Hallmark,” he said. “This could be a very dangerous slippery slope, in our view.”
The Shaw family controls Corus through ownership of the company’s voting shares — but their wealth is actually more closely tied to Rogers after they sold their cable and internet distributor, Shaw Communications Inc., to Rogers last year in a $20 billion transaction. Bradley Shaw is on the Rogers Communications board. It’s possible that regulators will help Corus, Valentini said in his report. It’s unlikely that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will “sit back” and allow Rogers to launch 10 or more specialty channels that are in the same genre as licences already held by Corus and Bell Media, he wrote. ---
Given that Rogers was assigned the (5) channels, being HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, Magnolia Network, Oprah Winfrey Network, and Cooking Channel Canada, out of Corus, troublesome questions must be asked in understanding what went wrong behind the scene to cause such an impact on Corus?
- Was Corus made aware prior to having received the notice of termination (announced on June 7, 2024) of any signal putting in jeopardy the said (5) channels?
- Did Rogers or any entity designated/mandated by Rogers ever approached, enquired at Corus about the said (5) channels?
- What prompted Rogers to shop around, to take away the said (5) channels from Corus?
- Did "Bradley Shaw", "Heather Shaw" and/or "Julie Shaw" or any entity designated/mandated by them acted improperly in having removed the said (5) channels from Corus' portfolio, so to speak, at the profit of Rogers?
In 2019, Shaw Communications Inc. sold its stake in Corus and the Shaw family never bothered in subsequent years to take initiatives in order to stop the further deterioriation of Corus share which is nowadays trading as a poor penny-stock.
The biggest problem, however, is 'out-dated' CRTC rules that 'hinder a larger deal by making it unattractive or not allowing them to have the flexibility needed'
Author of the article:
Published May 16, 2019
Corus Entertainment Inc. watched its share price plunge after Shaw Communications Inc. sold its stake in the television network owner, a plot twist analysts saw coming as part of Shaw’s long-term plans to shed media assets and focus instead on its higher-growth wireless business.
Calgary-based Shaw announced after markets closed Tuesday it agreed to sell 80.63 million class B Corus shares for $548 million or $6.80 per share. A group of banks led by TD Securities Inc. bought the entire stake and will sell it off to smaller investors after Shaw couldn’t find a single buyer, in part due to Canadian ownership restrictions.
Toronto-based Corus’ stock price fell almost 17 per cent to $6.70 Wednesday, erasing about half of the 65 per cent year-to-date price growth following its performance in 2018 when it fell to a record low.
The sale didn’t come as a surprise to Corus chief executive Doug Murphy, who said it won’t change the business.
“We have always anticipated the eventual sale of these shares at such time as determined by Shaw Communications,” Murphy said in a statement. “Our business operations remain unchanged as a result of this transaction, and we look forward to continuing to execute our strategy as we evolve and grow our business to create value for all of our stakeholders.”
Corus was created in 1999 as a spinoff of Shaw so Corus could focus on content and Shaw on delivering it through cable. In 2016, Shaw sold Corus the rest of its media assets for $2.65 billion, using the proceeds to buy wireless upstart Wind Mobile, now called Freedom Mobile. As part of the transaction, Shaw received 71 million Corus shares that were worth about $800 million at the time.
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One must wonder if the Shaw family is fulfilling its fiduciary duties towards Corus minority shareholders or if it wants this public company to fall into bankruptcy with or without the complicity of Corus management/executive team.
An investigation must be conducted both at the level of Corus management and its Board of Directors to enlighthen shareholders of what will the company do about its critically battered share price and ultimately its going concern.
I trust that the CRTC will act accordingly in this matter.
Sincerely,
Corus Entertainement Inc.
minority shareholder