The story
The company has its origins in CHUM Limited, which was acquired by CTVglobemedia in 2006. Through subsequent acquisitions, it also subsumed the radio properties of Astral Media in 2013; many of these were former Standard Radio stations that were acquired by Astral in 2007.
In 2016, Bell Media reached a licensing agreement with U.S. radio conglomerate iHeartMedia to operate a localized version of its internet radio platform iHeartRadio, and organize Canadian versions of its event franchises (such as the Jingle Ball). Since this agreement, Bell has primarily promoted its audio content, including radio stations and podcasts, under the public-facing brand iHeartRadio Canada.
In 2023, Bell Media laid off 6% of its workforce and closed nine of its radio stations and sold three as part of a restructuring plan and consolidated newsrooms across its platforms, resulting in its news/talk stations laying off most of their news staff and relying instead on the local and national newsrooms of CTV News. Stations closed included Winnipeg's CFRW, Calgary's CKMX, Edmonton's CFRN, Vancouver's CFTE and CKST and London's CJBK while Hamilton's CKOC and CHAM and Windsor's CKWW were sold to CINA Radio Group for $455,000.
On February 8, 2024, parent company BCE announced a total of cuts across the company, including 4,800 layoffs—with approximately 10% of those jobs being at Bell Media specifically, and the sale of 45 of its 103 radio stations to Vista Radio, Whiteoaks Communications Group, Durham Radio, My Broadcasting Corporation, ZoomerMedia, Arsenal Media and Maritime Broadcasting, pending approval by the CRTC. Bell executive Robert Malcolmson told Canadian Press that the "significant divestiture" of Bell's radio assets occurred "because it's not a viable business anymore".
From Wikipedia’s article on Bell Media Radio, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4