Employees buy CHEK-TV
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Updated: September 04, 2009 3:49 PM
A group of investors led by CHEK-TV's employees have finalized a deal to buy their station.
"We basically have taken over as of two o'clock today," said station manager John Pollard Friday.
The 52-year-old station, the oldest private TV broadcaster in B.C., was faced with the prospect of going dark Monday after Canwest Global Communications rejected a $2.5-million offer to buy the station.
But Canwest agreed to extend the deadline as the two sides worked through negotiations.
"We did in five days what would normally take five months," Pollard said, with the sound of cheering employees behind him on the phone.
Pollard would not disclose the terms of the sale, but said the purchase price was nominal and "in the area" of Canwest's original $2 asking price.
“Many dedicated individuals on both sides of the table came together and the result is that it has preserved jobs and service in the community,” Canwest CEO Leonard Asper said in a release. “One week ago, we thought that this station was going to close and today we have a result that is beneficial for all parties.”
The Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission has given temporary approval to the sale and a formal application to transfer the station's broadcast license will be made next week, Pollard said. He expected the transfer to come through in about 30 days.
The new owners – CHEK's 40 employees, who contributed $500,000 of their own money, and an undisclosed team of investors who contributed a reported $2 million – are "well financed" and won't face immediate financial problems running the money-losing station, Pollard said.
"Fifty-two (more) years, is what we're anticipating," Pollard replied when asked how long the group could keep the station on the air.
A new programming schedule will start Sept. 14, with details to be announced next week.
"It'll be worth watching," Pollard promised.
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