CTV says Shaw Communications has cancelled purchase of three local TV stations

CTV says that Shaw Communications Inc. will not proceed with the purchase of three over-the-air TV stations for $1 each. CTV issued a statement Tuesday, though representatives for Shaw weren't immediately available for comment.

In April, CTV accepted an offer by Shaw CEO Jim Shaw to buy a station in Brandon, Man., and CTV's A Channel stations in Wingham and Windsor, Ont. The purchase came after CTV and other conventional broadcasters, asked the CRTC to let them charge cable companies for the right to carry their signals, something called fee for carriage.

CBC eyes real estate selloff to raise cash

The CBC says it would consider selling buildings that house its radio and TV stations in a bid to wrangle control over its cash-strapped budget. Hubert Lacroix, president of CBC/Radio-Canada, says anything could be up for sale if efforts to generate funds elsewhere fail.

The past months have seen the CBC slash jobs and programs in a bid to shave $171 million from its budget amid the economic downturn. Lacroix says 300 employees have accepted early retirement incentive plans, while 250 people have been laid off.

Canwest selling TV stations in Montreal, Hamilton

Money-troubled Canwest Global Communications Corp. says it is selling two conventional television stations in Montreal and Hamilton to an affiliate of Channel Zero Inc., an independent Canadian television broadcaster. Financial terms of the deal to sell CHCH-TV in Hamilton and CJNT-TV in Montreal were not disclosed.

A privately held Toronto-based company, Channel Zero's operations include digital cable channels Movieola, Silver Screen Classics and adult entertainment channels AOV Adult Movie Channel, XXX Action Clips Channel and Maleflixxx Television.

Channel Zero said CHCH will broadcast an all-news format during the day with movies in the evening, while CJNT will broadcast original foreign movies and multicultural music videos.

Press gallery 'dean' Douglas Fisher turns 90 this year

Later this summer, Douglas Fisher will turn 90 years old. A huge, once-athletic man, he now uses a wheelchair to move about this pleasant retirement home on the outskirts of Ottawa. But it is only his knees that have gone on him. Despite a claim that he sees "the colour of rust" when he considers his mind, no one else can see it as he remains as up to date and feisty as ever.-- Globe columnist Roy MacGregor visits him.

Al Jazeera coming to Canadian TV : Globe and Mail

One of the longest running and most contentious debates in Canadian broadcasting is coming to an end with the expected approval by federal regulators to allow Al Jazeera's English television network to be carried here.

Sources close to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission indicate that Al Jazeera English, the international spinoff of the Qatar-based Arabic language news network Al Jazeera, will likely be cleared for Canada this summer, possibly within weeks. But Jewish groups still have concerns.