National Enquirer sold to newsstand chain Hudson News for $100M

American Media Inc. (AMI) is selling its tabloid the National Enquirer for $100 million US to James Cohen, chief executive of Hudson News, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the agreement, Reuters reports.
The National Enquirer had admitted to paying hush money to help U.S. President Donald Trump get elected and been accused of attempting to blackmail Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The weekly tabloid along with two sister publications, the Globe and the National Examiner, will be purchased by the head of Hudson News known for its airport newsstands, Associated Press later confirmed.
The sale is expected to reduce AMI's debt to $355 million, the Washington Post report said.
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Landmark streaming as Appeal Court hears carbon tax test

The Ontario Court of Appeal, highest legal authority in the province, will stream proceedings at Monday’s challenge to the federal carbon tax. “Typically cameras are not permitted in courtrooms,” Jacob Bakan, special counsel in the office of the province’s chief justice told the National Post. “The court is making an exception for the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act.” The case will see the Ontario government and supporters challenge the federal authority over imposition of a charge on gasoline, heating fuel and other pollutants as a way to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Ontario maintains the federal law is unconstitutional. In an order last week, Justice James MacPherson gave the CBC permission to put up to five cameras in the courtroom. The livestream will be available to other media and on the court’s own website. (Courtesy of The South Bayview Bulldog)

Postmedia posts net loss of $5.1 million as digital revenue growth streak continues

Postmedia Network Canada Corp. posted its ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit digital revenue growth on Thursday, but declining print revenues and an impairment charge contributed to a net loss of $5.1 million for the company’s fiscal second quarter, the Financial Post reports.
In the three months ending Feb. 28, 2019, Postmedia, which is Canada’s largest newspaper chain, saw its revenue decline to $145.7 million from $157.6 million in the same period last year.
The drop in the Postmedia second fiscal quarter, the company said, was due to a $10 million decrease in print advertising and a $2.9 million decline in print circulation revenue. The company noted, however, that the rates of decline for both metrics slowed as compared to last year.

Judge orders Quebecor to reconnect TVA Sports signal for Bell TV subscribers

CP reports that a Quebec judge has ordered Quebecor to reconnect the signal for three TVA Sports channels to Bell TV customers.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Claude Champagne refused, however, to prohibit the media company from making negative publicity about Bell, as its rival had requested, citing freedom of expression.

Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau told reporters that the company was going to obey the injunction.

The ruling came after lawyers for Bell Canada and rival Quebecor Inc. were in court Friday, battling over three French-language sports channels that Bell TV subscribers haven’t received since the NHL playoffs began this week.

Bell lawyer Francis Rouleau said cutting the signal “is a conduct that deserves to be highly sanctioned ... to reinstate those who are in the penalty box, who are the consumers and the subscribers of Bell.”

 

CTV reporter Paul Bliss was fired for repeated sexual misconduct, network alleges

CP's Colin Perkel writes:
"A veteran television reporter who left CTV after a woman accused him of lewd behaviour at the Ontario legislature was fired for repeated sexual misconduct involving young women, new court documents allege.
In an untested filing in Superior Court, CTV and its owner Bell Media say they began investigating complaints against Paul Bliss after a former freelancer, Bridget Brown, went public in January 2018 with accusations against him.
“'The investigation revealed that Mr. Bliss had been engaging in sexual activities in the workplace with multiple individuals on multiple occasions for over 10 years,' Bell Media says in its statement of defence. 'The investigation also revealed that Mr. Bliss continued to send sexually inappropriate messages using work resources, despite being warned by Human Resources previously that the conduct was not acceptable.'
The document served on Tuesday was filed as part of a $7.5-million defamation lawsuit Bliss launched a year ago against CTV, Bell Media, Brown and others."
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