Competition Bureau OKs Bell's Astral takeover

It looks like it's one down and one to go as Bell Media gets approval from the Competition Bureau to buy Astral Media if it complies with requirements from the bureau to sell off some of  Astral's assets. Since nothing is forever, we can be sure that Bell will find this arrangement just fine and press on with getting approval from the CRTC as well. According to the Competition Bureau's ruling, media giant BCE (Bell's parent company) must divest itself from several of Astral's specialty and pay channels if the $3-billion deal is to go through. The bureau also prohibited Bell from imposing "restrictive bundling requirements on any provider seeking to carry the Movie Network or Super Ecran as part of its consent agreement with Bell."  Just incidentally, have you noticed how there are no more snarky references to Ma Bell in the media these days.