There has been a major acquisition in the radio broadcast business and it involves the stations in North Battleford.
The local Rawlco Radio Ltd. stations in North Battleford - the country music station 1050 CJNB, pop music station Q98 and 93.3 The Rock - have been sold to the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group based in Kamloops, B.C.
CJNB's sister operation 102.3 CJNS in Meadow Lake is also included in the sale, as is 900 CKBI, Power 99 and Mix 101 in Prince Albert and 102.3 Now! Radio and Up! 99.3 in Edmonton, Alta. for a total of nine stations.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Rawlco Radio Ltd. retains their seven remaining stations in Saskatoon, Regina and Calgary.
The deal is subject to approval of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. An application was submitted this week and public hearings will be held in the coming months. The regulatory process is not expected to wrap up until the end of the year.
In a statement, the Pattison Group says the "current local management teams" will continue to lead the Edmonton, Prince Albert, North Battleford and Meadow Lake stations and all of the existing team members at the stations will be offered positions.
The acquisition expands the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group into Saskatchewan for the first time, though Pattison himself is from Saskatchewan originally and has some other business interests in the province.
The company owns 33 broadcast stations in British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba, most of them in mid-sized markets. The company also has three television stations, in Kamloops and Prince George, B.C. and Medicine Hat, Alta.
Lately the company has been on a buying spree, having acquired three other stations in Calgary, Alta. and Winnipeg, Man. from Bell Media.
In speaking to the News-Optimist, Rick Arnish, chairman of the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, said his company's expansion is part of a strategic plan formulated several years ago.
The Pattison group had approached Rawlco CEO Gordon Rawlinson over the last few years about possibilities for "our company to join together with him and have us acquire some of his properties," said Arnish.
"We talked again here a few months back and we came to this decision that we announced today. He's given us this wonderful opportunity to acquire his great stations in North Battleford, Prince Albert and in Edmonton."
As for what folks in North Battleford can expect, Arnish said the company will bring a "new perspective, a new Western voice to the marketplace but you're not going to see things change dramatically."
"We're very big on allowing the management team there and the radio team to continue what they're doing. We're going to be there to support them. Rawlco Radio has a great reputation. What we want to do is continue to build on that and we want to learn from the Rawlco radio team that's there. Hopefully they'll learn some things from us as well and we'll be able to do business with the best interest of the citizens of the community of North Battleford," said Arnish.
Arnish believes the acquisitions represent a vote of confidence in the radio industry and traditional media.
"We're very high on the future of radio in Canada," said Arnish, who adds "if you're live and local and you're there to serve the community, you're always going to have people coming back to the local marketplace because they need to know what's going on."
For Saskatchewan-based Rawlco Radio Ltd., the sale will bring to a close over a half-century of involvement in the Battlefords radio market in an ownership capacity, dating back to 1963.
For several years Rawlco owned the radio stations in partnership with the Dekker family as part of the Northwestern Radio Partnership, which lasted from 1989 until a corporate reorganization two years ago.
In a statement issued Thursday, Rawlinson expressed confidence that the former Rawlco stations "will be in very good hands."
"When we were approached by the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, I was impressed with how their style of operating radio stations was very similar to ours. They have an outstanding reputation of providing excellent local radio with a keen focus on community service. I was also pleased with the Pattison commitment to provide opportunities for all of the current Rawlco employees to grow their careers with Pattison."
