Corus stays tooned in to Nelvana

Content critical part of business strategy, sez CEO

By BRENDAN KELLY

MONTREAL -- Canuck broadcaster and producer Corus Entertainment is committed to its toon house Nelvana in spite of its C$200 million ($127 million) writedown, Corus CEO John Cassaday said at the company's annual meeting Tuesday in Calgary.

Nelvana co-founder-CEO Michael Hirsh ankled in October after Corus revealed the writedown and scaled back Nelvana productions from 250 half-hour episodes to 150 per year.

Last month, the toon house was combined with Corus' broadcast division under new Nelvana prexy Paul Robertson.

"Despite our recent moves … content remains a critical part of our business strategy," Cassaday said. "In the long term, Nelvana ensures our relevance as new technologies emerge that need content. It diversifies our revenue sources, gives us important access to international growth opportunities and is a critical greenhouse for the development of the next big television hit."

Doug Murphy has become executive VP of business development. He will oversee Nelvana's sales, marketing, merchandising, music and publishing activities. He has more than a decade of experience in senior positions with the Walt Disney Co. in North America and abroad. He will report to Robertson.

Corus expects cash-flow growth of at least 10% in the television and radio operations, and Nelvana to break even by the end of next year.