Wow! lines up Canuck kids network

Toronto-based media group Wow! Networks is preparing to launch a new children’s channel after gaining regulatory approval to acquire Bell Media’s Comedy Gold network.

Wow! is to buy the English-language comedy network in a C$6.8m (US$5.1m) deal and replace it with an as-yet unnamed channel targeting Canadian kids and youth.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has approved the deal and said it will grant a licence for the forthcoming channel.

Wow! said the new network would “combine next gen innovation with an immersive multi-platform experience to bring young Canadians the content they love.”

The commission’s decision noted the transaction’s benefit to both Canada’s viewers and its broadcasting system by providing a wider variety of children’s and youth content along with an increase in production within the kids genre.

Wow! assets include digital animation network Frederator Networks, which consists of animation prodco Frederator Studios as well as VoD channels and animation studio Rainmaker Entertainment.