Maclean-Hunter

Maclean-Hunter was a Canadian communications company, which had diversified holdings in radio, television, magazines, newspapers and cable television distribution.

The company began in 1887, when brothers John Bayne Maclean and Hugh Cameron Maclean launched their first trade publication, Canadian Grocer & General Storekeeper. The company subsequently expanded into other areas of publishing, launching the general interest magazine Maclean's in 1905, the business newspaper Financial Post in 1907 and the women's magazine Chatelaine in 1928.

Horace Talmadge Hunter joined Maclean Publishing in 1903, moving up the management ranks to succeed John Bayne Maclean as president in 1933; in 1945 the company's name was changed to Maclean-Hunter.

In 1961, the company began to diversify, adding its first broadcasting asset, radio station CFCO in Chatham, Ontario. In 1968 Maclean-Hunter Publishing Company Limited was renamed to Maclean-Hunter Limited and finally as Maclean Hunter Limited in 1981.^[1] In 1982, the company acquired a controlling interest in Sun Media; ownership of the Financial Post was transferred to Sun Media in 1987 to facilitate the publication's expansion from a weekly to a daily newspaper.

By the early 1990s, Maclean-Hunter's assets also included cable television services in 35 Ontario markets, 21 radio stations, television station CFCN in Calgary and a significant minority share in CTV.

Maclean-Hunter was acquired in 1994 by Rogers Communications. The CRTC approved the transaction, but required Rogers to divest itself of some of Maclean-Hunter's individual assets to alleviate concerns around concentration of media ownership. Shaw Communications acquired some of the cable holdings and radio stations, Telemedia and Blackburn Radio acquired other radio stations, and the consortium of Baton Broadcasting and Electrohome acquired CFCN and the CTV shares. Sun Media was sold in an employee buyout in 1996.

Maclean-Hunter also had cable holdings in the United States, which were acquired by Comcast in 1994.

Operations

Maclean-Hunter's main office was at College Park since the 1980s. Previously their head office was in a series of buildings along the corner of Dundas Street and University Avenue. Maclean's magazine has since moved to Rogers Communications premises at 1 Mount Pleasant Road (Rogers Building).

In the 1940s, M-H built a printing plant in North York (Highway 401-Yonge Street). It was later sold and the site was developed to become "Mansions of Avondale" condominiums and Avondale Park.

Presidents

• John Bayne Maclean 1887-1933
• Horace Talmadge Hunter 1933-1952
• Floyd Sherman Chalmers 1952-1964 - Chairman 1964-1969
• Donald Fleming Hunter 1964-1977 - later as Chairman
• Frederick T. Metcalf 1977-1984 - later as Chairman
• Donald G. Campbell 1984-1986
• Ronald Osborne 1986-1994

Assets

At the time of Maclean-Hunter's takeover by Rogers in 1994, the company owned the following assets:

Television

Rogers immediately spun off Maclean-Hunter's television assets. Baton Broadcasting and Electrohome acquired CFCN-TV and Maclean-Hunter's share of CTV, a transaction which moved Baton significantly closer to its eventual takeover of the entire CTV network. Shaw acquired Maclean-Hunter's share in the New Country Network, which was licensed but had not yet launched at the time of the takeover.

• Calgary - CFCN-TV
• 14.3% of CTV
• 60% of New Country Network

Radio

Maclean-Hunter owned 21 radio stations. Most were spun off by Rogers to other owners; only the Kitchener and Ottawa stations are still owned by Rogers today.

• Amherst - CKDH
• Brampton - CFNY
• Campbellton - CKNB
• Charlottetown - CFCY, CHLQ
• Chatham - CFCO
• Halifax - CHNS, CHFX
• Kitchener - CKGL, CHYM
• Leamington - CHYR
• Moncton - CKCW, CFQM
• Newcastle - CFAN
• Ottawa - CIWW, CKBY
• Saint John - CIOK
• Sarnia - CKTY, CFGX
• Sussex - CJCW
• Toronto - CKYC

Cable television

Maclean-Hunter Cable served the following markets in Ontario. These were acquired by Rogers, although some were later sold to Shaw Cable or Cogeco.

References

External links

• CRTC decision approving the acquisition of Maclean-Hunter by Rogers