Sun Media Corporation was the owner of several tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in Canada and the 49% owner of the now defunct Sun News Network. It was a subsidiary of Quebecor Media.
Quebecor sold its 74 community newspapers in Quebec to TC Transcontinental in June 2014, under a deal first announced in December 2013.
On October 6, 2014, Quebecor Media announced the sale of the remaining English-language print assets of Sun Media to rival Postmedia. The sale included neither the Sun News Network, which subsequently closed when a buyer was not found, nor Quebecor's French-language papers Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec. The sale was approved by the federal Competition Bureau on March 25, 2015, and closed on April 13. Canoe Sun Media merged with Postmedia rather than being maintained as a separate division.
Contents
History
Sun Publishing was formed on February 4, 1978 through the amalgamation of Toronto Sun Holdings Ltd and Toronto Sun Publishing Ltd. The two companies had been formed in 1971 with the launch of the Toronto Sun by former staffers of the defunct Toronto Telegram. On February 14, 1978, the Edmonton Sun, the second member of what would become the Sun chain, was announced through a partnership of Sun Media and Edmonton Sun Publishing Ltd. The paper was launched on April 2, 1978. In 1981, the outstanding shares of Edmonton Sun Publishing Ltd were acquired by Sun Media. The company purchased the Calgary Albertan on July 31, 1980 for $1.3 million and relaunched it days later as the Calgary Sun, with the same format and appearance as its sister papers.
In 1979, it purchased the United Press International's Canadian subsidiary, the former British United Press. It ran the news agency for several years before selling it to Canadian Press in 1985.
In 1983, 50% of Sun Media was acquired by Maclean-Hunter for $55 million. That same year, Sun Media, with Maclean-Hunter's backing, acquired the Houston Post for $100 million in an attempt to expand into the United States. It was sold for $150 million four years later. In 1987, Maclean-Hunter's Financial Post weekly was sold to Sun Media for $46 million and was relaunched as a daily tabloid financial newspaper the following year. In 1988, Sun Media acquired the Ottawa Sunday Herald which it would relaunch as the daily Ottawa Sun.
In 1994, Maclean-Hunter was purchased by Rogers Communications. Two years later, on October 4, 1996, the management of the Sun chain under the leadership of Paul Godfrey purchased Rogers' share of the Sun Publishing and renamed the company Sun Media. In 1998, the Financial Post was sold to Southam Inc. in exchange for the Hamilton Spectator, the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, the Guelph Mercury, and the Cambridge Reporter. Also in 1998, Sun Media was purchased by Quebecor and maintained as a wholly owned subsidiary of it. Godfrey had sought out Quebecor as a "white knight" in order to frustrate an attempted hostile takeover by the Sun's longtime rival, the Toronto Star. In 1999, Quebecor sold the four recently acquired southern Ontario newspapers to the owners of the Toronto Star and became part of its Metroland Media Group. Southam, owned by Conrad Black, would relaunch the Financial Post as the National Post. In 2007, Sun Media acquired and absorbed the Osprey Media chain of small English language newspapers mostly based in Ontario. In 2014, after years of cuts and restructuring, Quebecor sold its Sun Media division to Postmedia which, ironically, had former Sun Media CEO Paul Godfrey as its chief executive. The sale was completed in April 2015 and Sun Media was dissolved with its newspapers being absorbed by the Postmedia chain.
Publications
Sun newspapers
Calgary Sun
Edmonton Sun
Ottawa Sun
Toronto Sun
Winnipeg Sun
Le Journal newspapers
Le Journal de Montréal
Le Journal de Québec (Quebec City)
24hrs newspapers
24heures Montreal
24hrs Toronto
24hrs Vancouver
Local daily newspapers
Alberta
The Daily Herald-Tribune - Grande Prairie
Fort McMurray Today - Fort McMurray
Manitoba
Portage Daily Graphic - Portage la Prairie
Ontario
Belleville Intelligencer - Belleville
Brantford Expositor - Brantford
Chatham Daily News - Chatham
Cornwall Standard Freeholder - Cornwall
Kingston Whig Standard - Kingston
London Free Press - London
Niagara Falls Review - Niagara Falls
North Bay Nugget - North Bay
Northumberland Today - Cobourg
Orillia Packet and Times - Orillia
Owen Sound Sun Times - Owen Sound
Pembroke Daily Observer - Pembroke
Peterborough Examiner - Peterborough
Sarnia Observer - Sarnia
Sault Star - Sault Ste. Marie
Simcoe Reformer - Simcoe
St. Catharines Standard - St. Catharines
Weekly newspapers
Alberta
Airdrie Echo - Airdrie
Bow Valley Crag & Canyon - Banff
Camrose Canadian - Camrose
Cochrane Times - Cochrane
Cold Lake Sun - Cold Lake
County Market - Leduc
Devon Dispatch - Devon
Drayton Valley Western Review - Drayton Valley
Edmonton Examiner - Edmonton
Edson Leader - Edson
Fairview Post - Fairview
Fort Saskatchewan Record - Fort Saskatchewan
Hanna Herald - Hanna
High River Times - High River
Hinton Parklander - Hinton
Lacombe Globe - Lacombe
Leduc Representative - Leduc
Mayerthorpe Freelancer - Mayerthorpe
Meridian Booster - Lloydminster
Nanton News - Nanton
Peace Country Sun - Grande Prairie
Peace River Record-Gazette - Peace River
Pincher Creek Echo - Pincher Creek
Magazines
Biz Magazine
Business London
Hamilton Halton Weddings
Hamilton Magazine
Kingston Life
Muskoka Cottage Home Property
Muskoka Magazine
Muskoka Trails
Niagara Magazine
Ontario Farmer
Sault Good Life
Simcoe Life
Vines Magazine
What's Up Muskoka
Former assets
Closed
The following publications have been closed by Sun Media:
24 Hours in Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton
Canmore Leader, Canmore, Alberta (merged to become the Bow Valley Crag & Canyon in 2013)
Banff Crag & Canyon, Banff, Alberta (merged to become the Bow Valley Crag & Canyon in 2013)
The Beausejour Review, Beausejour, Manitoba
The Lac du Bonnet Leader, Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba
The Lindsay Daily Post, Lindsay, Ontario
Midland Free Press, Midland, Ontario
L'Action Régionale Montérégie, Montérégie, Québec
Le Magazine Saint-Lambert, Saint-Lambert, Quebec
Le Progrès de Bellechasse, Bellechasse, Quebec
The Meadow Lake Progress, Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan
The Crowsnest Pass Promoter, Crowsnest Pass, Alberta
CKXT-DT - closed 2011
Sun News Network
Sold
Houston Post, Houston, Texas (acquired in 1983, sold in 1987)
The Hamilton Spectator, Hamilton, Ontario (acquired 1998, sold in 1999)
Kitchener-Waterloo Record, Kitchener, Ontario (acquired 1998, sold in 1999)
Guelph Mercury, Guelph, Ontario (acquired 1998, sold in 1999)
Cambridge Reporter, Cambridge, Ontario (acquired 1998, sold in 1999)
CP24 - 29.9% interest sold to CHUM Limited in 2004. Now owned by Bell Media.
United Press Canada - 80% interest purchased in 1979 from United Press International, sold to Canadian Press in 1985