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overview
landmarks
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This
note considers Astral Media, a Canadian broadcasting group.
It covers -
introduction
Astral Media Inc. owns 29 radio stations in Quebec
and Canada's Atlantic provinces, along with television
channels available across Canada (such as The Movie Network
and The Family Channel). It is the country's largest broadcaster
of English- and French-language pay and specialty television.
Astral also has outdoor advertising operations.
In 2007 it announced an agreement to acquire Standard
Broadcasting, a Canadian competitor, for around C$1.2
billion.
history
Astral traces its origins to Angreen Photo, a photography
chain founded in 1961 by Harold Greenberg (1930-1996)
and brothers Ian, Harvey and Sidney. Harold Greenberg
gained exclusive rights to sell film at the Montreal Expo
67 site, along with photographic rights in the Expo pavilions.
Expansion after 1968 saw Angreen grow from concessions
in department stores to some 125 stand alone retail operations
under the Astral Photo name.
Astral expanded into motion picture processing after acquisition
of the Pathé-Humphries motion picture lab, which
traced its origins to the US offshoot of the Pathé
brothers film business. The name was changed to Bellevue
Pathé and later to AstralTech.
Astral was reconstructed in 1973 as Astral Bellevue Pathé
Limited, when the Greenberg's folded their processing
and retailing interests into the one entity. Astral expanded
into videocassette duplication and video wholesaling.
Harold Greenberg and Astral also produced or financed
feature films and television programs, including In
Praise of Older Women (1978), Porky's (1981)
and Le Zombi de Cap-Rouge (1997). Astral's expansion
into pay television was inhibited by its involvement in
production.
In 1983 Astral acquired control of the ailing First Choice
Canadian Communications Corp, responsible for Canada's
two pay-per-view television networks (FirstChoice - later
The Movie Network and The Movie Channel and Premier Choix
- later Super Écran), subsequently adding new networks.
It ceased directly involvement in film and program production
but expanded into radio broadcasting.
Astral Communications was rebadged as Astral Media in
February 2000.
holdings
Astralia Media stations include -
- CKMF-FM
94.3, Montreal
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CHIK-FM 98.9, Quebec City
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CKTF-FM 104.1, Gatineau / Outaouais
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CIMO-FM 106.1, Magog / Estrie
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CIGB-FM 102.3, Trois-Rivières / Mauricie
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CJAB-FM 94.5, Saguenay
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CJMM-FM 99.1, Rouyn-Noranda
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CJMV-FM 102.7, Val d'Or
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CIKI-FM 98.7, Rimouski
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CJDM-FM 92.1, Drummondville
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CITE-FM 107.3, Montreal
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CITF-FM 107.5, Quebec City
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CIMF-FM 94.9, Gatineau / Outaouais
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CITE-FM-1 102.7, Sherbrooke / Estrie
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CHEY-FM 94.7, Trois-Rivières / Mauricie
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CFIX-FM 96.9, Saguenay
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CJOI-FM 102.9, Rimouski
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CFEI-FM 106.5, Saint-Hyacinthe
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CFZZ-FM 104.1, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
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CHRD-FM 105.3, Drummondville
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CFVM-FM 99.9, Amqui
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CIKX-FM 93.5, Grand Falls, New Brunswick
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CKTY-FM 99.5, Truro, Nova Scotia
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CKTO-FM 100.9, Truro, Nova Scotia
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CJCJ-FM 104.1, Woodstock, New Brunswick
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CFXY-FM 105.3, Fredericton, New Brunswick
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CIBX-FM 106.9, Fredericton, New Brunswick
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CKHJ 1260, Fredericton, New Brunswick
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CKBC 1360, Bathurst, New Brunswick
Television
channels include -
-
The Movie Network
-
Super Écran
-
Mpix
-
cinépop
-
Viewers Choice
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Canal Indigo
-
Family
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Canal Vie
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Canal D
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VRAK.TV
-
Ztélé
-
Historia
-
Séries+
-
MusiquePlus
-
MusiMax
-
TELETOON
Other
interests include -
- Astral
Media Outdoor - some 3,700 billboards in Québec
and Ontario, along with static and electronic advertising
at Montréal, Québec City and Calgary airports
- AstralTech
- film and television technical services.
studies
There are no major English-language studies of the group.
 next
page (Astral chronology)
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