History
Blue Ant Media was formed in 2011 by former Alliance Atlantis executive Michael MacMillan; the company's first investment was the acquisition of a 29.9% minority stake in specialty broadcaster Glassbox Television—owner of specialty networks such as AUX, Bite TV, and Travel & Escape— with the option to acquire as much as a 75% minority stake pending CRTC approval. [1] MacMillan that his goal for the company was to be a producer and distributor of content across multiple platforms, and "not just have individual pieces of content", but be "deep experts" in niche markets with advertiser appeal—such as music, comedy, and travel. [1] [2] Glassbox founder Jeffery Elliott was retained as Blue Ant's head of television and digital, joined by former Glassbox CEO Raja Khanna. [3]
On December 21, 2011, Blue Ant Media announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase specialty broadcaster High Fidelity HDTV; [4] the company subsequently announced a 25% investment by Torstar. [5] Blue Ant initially purchased 29.9% of the company, with the remaining 70.1% acquired following CRTC approval. The acquisition was completed on August 1, 2012. [6] [7] At this time, Jeffrey Elliott departed the company, and was succeeded by former Glassbox CEO Raja Khanna as head of television and digital. [3]
On August 17, 2012, Blue Ant Media announced that it would be purchasing the specialty channel Bold from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for an undisclosed amount, conditional on government approval. [8] After initially purchasing a 15% minority stake in Canadian publishing company Quarto Communications in the summer of 2011, [9] Blue Ant Media purchased the remaining shares in the company in December 2012, which had been renamed Cottage Life Media. [10]
In April 2014, the company purchased a minority stake in the digital media company and multi-channel network Omnia Media. [11]
In November 2014, the company bought a majority stake in Choice TV, marking their first international expansion. [12] [13] [14]
In December 2015, Blue Ant Media and Smithsonian Networks teamed to launch Blue Skye Entertainment, a new UK-based company exclusively focused on 4K content. [15]
In December 2016, Blue Ant partnered with BBC Worldwide to launch BBC Earth in Canada, as a rebranding of its existing channel radX. [16]
In May 2017, Blue Ant Media bought the Asia-Pacific broadcaster Racat Group, including factual producer NHNZ, Singapore-based studio Beach House Pictures, Sydney-based Northern Pictures, developer Runaway Play, and a majority stake in ZooMoo. The purchase was considered to be complementary to the Blue Ant's factual and nature-oriented programming. [17] [18] [19]
Expansion and acquisitions (2018–2024)
In February 2018, Omnia Media was renamed Blue Ant Digital Studios, coinciding with the launch of several new original series on Facebook Watch, and an accompanying expansion beyond video gaming content. [20] In October 2018, Blue Ant acquired the Toronto-based Saloon Media. [21]
In October 2020, Blue Ant Media announced its acquisition of the Canadian technology news website MobileSyrup. [22]
In December 2020, Blue Ant entered the free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) market by launching HauntTV, a channel devoted to horror and supernatural programming, on The Roku Channel in Canada. [23] It has since launched several additional FAST channels in Canada and the United States; including CrimeTime, TotalCrime, Homeful, and HistoryTime. [24] [25] [26] [27]
In 2020, Blue Ant Media sold its Asian linear networks aside from Love Nature, including Blue Ant Entertainment, Blue Ant Extreme, and ZooMoo, to Rock Entertainment Holdings, a new company led by Blue Ant's then-head of Global Networks & Kids Ward Platt. [28]
In February 2021, Blue Ant Media sold its majority stake in New Zealand factual production company NHNZ to producer Julie Christie. It was rebranded as NHNZ Worldwide, with Blue Ant Media retaining a 45% stake in the rebranded company and continuing to own NHNZ's catalogue. [29]
In March 2021, Blue Ant expanded its partnership with BBC Studios, relaunching Treasure HD as BBC First. The channel is a de facto successor to Corus Entertainment's BBC Canada; that channel had originally been founded by Alliance Atlantis, where Blue Ant founder Michael MacMillan had been an executive. [30] [31]
In June 2022, Blue Ant Media acquired British distribution company Drive Media Rights and its library, with Blue Ant folding Drive Media Rights into its distribution arm Blue Ant International. Its founders Ben Barrett and Lilla Hurst also joined the company. [32] Two months later in September, Blue Ant Media announced their acquisition of TV marketplace company Media Pulse, which became a standalone unit within the company. [33]
In August 2023, Blue Ant announced its acquisition of Canadian production company MarbleMedia, and plans to merge their studio operations (aside from Blue Ant's Singaporean subsidiary Beach House Pictures) into a single division; the acquisition would increase Blue Ant's involvement in scripted content. [34]
In February 2024, Blue Ant sold a majority stake in Beach House Pictures to Fremantle. [35] In June 2024, Blue Ant sold MobileSyrup to ZoomerMedia. [36] In August 2024, Blue Ant sold its digital brand Animalogic to Toronto-based digital media company UnderKnown. [37]
On March 24, 2025, Blue Ant Media announced that it would acquire Jam Filled Entertainment, Insight Productions, and Proper Television from Boat Rocker Media to expand its children's and unscripted businesses. As part of this acquisition, Blue Ant Media would perform a reverse takeover of Boat Rocker and go public on the Toronto Stock Exchange as Blue Ant Media Corporation. Boat Rocker shareholders would hold a 26.5% stake in the company's stock. The remainder of Boat Rocker outside of the acquired assets was sold to its management for CA$18 million, and continue to operate as Boat Rocker Media. [38] [39] The transaction was completed on August 1, 2025. [40]
