G.E. Pact With Vivendi Clears Way for Sale of NBC

General Electric has reached a tentative agreement to buy Vivendi’s 20 percent stake in NBC Universal for about $5.8 billion, helping clear the path to a sale of the television and movie company to Comcast, people briefed on the matter told the New York Times web page DealBook. But much remains to be negotiated, these people warned. The Vivendi agreement values NBC Universal at $29 billion, less than the $30 billion or so that G.E. and Comcast had agreed to last month.

Grey Cup delivers a record audience of 6.1 million

More than 14 million Canadians, or nearly 43% of the country's population, watched the game in whole or in part. An incredible 8.35 million viewers were watching the broadcast at 9:49 p.m. ET on TSN and RDS as Montreal kicker Damon Duval converted his second game-winning field-goal attempt as timed expired. The combined TSN and RDS audience for 2009 Grey Cup surpasses the previous combined Grey Cup audience high of 5.2 million set in 2002 by 16%.

CRTC asks views to comment (again?) on the local news vs cable issue

The federal broadcast regulator wants Canadians to use a spoecial website to air their views on the availability of local news, information and public affairs programming.
At the heart of the debate is a battle between the major television broadcasters and cable and satellite companies over who pays for TV signals. The TV broadcasters have asked the CRTC to compel the cable and satellite operators to pay for the broadcasters' TV signals to help maintain local stations and programming. Cable companies have said such a fee could result in charging their customers as much as $10 a month on top of their bills to cover the extra costs.

Jane Francisco named new editor-in-chief at Chatelaine magazine

Jane Francisco, an 18-year veteran of the publishing industry, is the new editor-in-chief at Chatelaine magazine, Rogers Media Inc., the magazine's owner has announced.
She takes over from Maryam Sanati who is no longer with Rogers Media.Francisco has most recently served as editor-in-chief at Style at Home magazine, a Rogers publication.

CanWest pensioners' lives in limbo

At age 72 and with health problems to contend with, Bob Ireland says there's not a "heck of a lot" he can do to find new work to replace his crumbling pension plan. So the veteran Hamilton television reporter, who retired from station CHCH in 1997 after 30 years of service, says he and his wife are reviewing their finances, trimming costs and cancelling vacation plans. Mr. Ireland is one of more than 200 CHCH retirees and active workers who learned this summer that their underfunded pension plan was being shut down and liquidated as part of the agreement by CanWest Global Communications Corp. to sell the station to Channel Zero, a Toronto-based specialty television producer. Channel Zero made the purchase on the condition it would not take over the station's pension plan. While retirees are waiting to learn the final funding numbers, the plan had a shortfall of over $10-million at the end of 2008. At that level, retirees would face a 22-per-cent cut to their pension payments.