Espace sells Radio Canal 3 back to Biel
Espace Media Groupe, a Tamedia subsidiary, has sold two-thirds of the bilingual Biel-based local radio station Radio Canal 3 to Radiobilingue. This allows Espace-Tamedia to divest itself of a surplus license, and the local radio station returns to Biel-based ownership.
The Tamedia subsidiary Espace Media Groupe has sold two thirds of the bilingual local radio station Radio Canal 3 in Biel/Bienne to Radiobilingue. Radiobilingue is a company owned by several companies and personalities from Biel/Bienne and had been known for some time as an interested buyer (see: A Biel network for Canal 3
). Espace will retain a stake of around one third in the broadcaster. The new Board of Directors of Canal 3 is made up of five members of Radiobilingue and one representative of Espace. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price, according to the press release. Radio Canal 3 became the property of Espace at the end of 2004, which subsequently invested considerable resources in the renewal of the technical infrastructure and in the repositioning of the successful bilingual local station. Today, Canal 3 reaches 51,000 German-speaking and 48,000 French-speaking listeners in the broadcasting area every day. Canal 3's French-language program was voted "Radio of the Year" by the industry this year.
The sale of the radio station by Espace Media Groupe is based on the new Radio and Television Act, which came into force on April 1, 2007 and does not allow any provider to hold more than two radio licenses. Espace Media Groupe and Tamedia, which completed their merger on October 1, 2007, jointly held four licenses: Radio 24, Radio Basilisk, the capital city radio station Capital FM and Canal 3. Espace was therefore forced to sell the majority shareholding in one radio station. Tamedia, for its part, recently sold Radio Basilisk.
