Torstar
Encyclopedia
Torstar Corporation is an independently-owned Canadian
broadly based media company that is named after its principal holding, the Toronto Star
daily newspaper.
Its core businesses includes publishing daily and community newspapers, speciality publications, digital properties, Syndicate content, as well as women’s fiction.
government passed a law barring the provisions of late-Toronto Star owner Joseph Atkinson
's will
from being enacted. Atkinson had bequeathed the newspaper to a charitable organization he had founded. The Conservative
provincial government of George Drew (a critic of the Liberal-oriented Star) passed a law banning charitable organizations from operating profitable entities such as newspapers. Rather than sell the newspaper, the trustees of the Atkinson Foundation bought out the Star privately and founded Torstar as a private corporation.
The Newspapers division is the largest component and consists of newspaper, commercial printing and Internet products and services. The company operates 2 main newspaper divisions, Metroland Media Group
and the Star Media Group
. The second group is Book Publishing which is also known as Harlequin
.
and Star Media Group
.
Star Media Group includes the flagship Toronto Star
, Canada's largest daily newspaper, Torstar Syndication Services
a syndication service of content for various publications, Torstar Media Group Television
which is a film/video production unit and includes ShopTV Canada
, as well as TMG Production and TMG Entertainment.
is Torstar's largest division. Metroland consists of daily and community newspapers, printing services, flyer distributing and digital operations. Metroland operates over 130 daily and community publications. Metroland publishes over 100 community newspapers including former CityMedia Group publications. Metroland also has as a number of specialty publications and operates several consumer shows. It also published the alternative newspaper Eye Weekly
.
Torstar Digital became the digital arm of Star Media Group on Feb 1, 2005. Torstar Digital also owns toronto.com which averages 8 million page views and 615,000 visitors. In October 2005, Torstar announced a joint venture with LiveDeal.com, a US-based company, to create LiveDeal Canada. LiveDeal Canada is an online classifieds provider that provides Canadians with a cost-effective, easy-to-use and efficient marketplace for buying and selling goods. Torstar digital also looks after all newspaper and publication websites including thestar.com.
Metroland will also manage Torstar’s interest in the jointly owned Sing Tao Daily
, the largest Chinese language newspaper in Canada. In March 2005, Torstar, CanWest and Metro International
(each holding a 33.3% interest) announced their new joint venture to launch Metro Vancouver (March 14) and Metro Ottawa (March 30) as well as the Toronto edition of Metro, the largest free daily newspaper in Canada.
, a major publisher of women’s fiction romance novel
s. It offers a variety of women’s fiction genres in many different formats including mass-market paperback, trade paperback, hardcover, in multiple channels such as retail outlets, direct-to consumer, and e-commerce in over 94 international markets.
Though newspapers have been accused of missing the internet "revolution", in the early 1990s, Torstar became a pioneering investor in the early internet via its purchase of shares in JCI Technologies which created Jobmatch, Automatch and Realtymatch (an MLS search service). In 1995 JCI was selected to be one of the first content providers selected for Microsoft's MSN network prior to MSN's launch in the mid 1990s. By early 1996, JCI potentially had a dominant position in Canada's on-line classified ads with Southam also taking a stake in the company. Shortly after Conrad Black's Hollinger took over of Southam, financing for JCI was pulled and the investment failed just prior to the internet boom of the late 1990s.
of Torstar are:
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
broadly based media company that is named after its principal holding, the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
daily newspaper.
Its core businesses includes publishing daily and community newspapers, speciality publications, digital properties, Syndicate content, as well as women’s fiction.
History
Torstar was founded after the OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
government passed a law barring the provisions of late-Toronto Star owner Joseph Atkinson
Joseph E. Atkinson
-External links:*-References:...
's will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
from being enacted. Atkinson had bequeathed the newspaper to a charitable organization he had founded. The Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
provincial government of George Drew (a critic of the Liberal-oriented Star) passed a law banning charitable organizations from operating profitable entities such as newspapers. Rather than sell the newspaper, the trustees of the Atkinson Foundation bought out the Star privately and founded Torstar as a private corporation.
Operations
The principal activities of Torstar are the publication of newspapers and women’s fiction. Torstar operates in two main holding under Newspapers and Book Publishing.The Newspapers division is the largest component and consists of newspaper, commercial printing and Internet products and services. The company operates 2 main newspaper divisions, Metroland Media Group
Metroland Media Group
Metroland Media Group, also referred to as Metroland is a publisher of daily and weekly community newspapers, as well as several speciality products and services, in the southern part of the Canadian province of Ontario...
and the Star Media Group
Star Media Group
Star Media Group is a division of Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation.Star Media Group assets includes:*Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper*Torstar Syndication Services*Fantasy Sports...
. The second group is Book Publishing which is also known as Harlequin
Harlequin
Harlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...
.
Newspapers
The newspaper division is split between two main subsidies: Metroland Media GroupMetroland Media Group
Metroland Media Group, also referred to as Metroland is a publisher of daily and weekly community newspapers, as well as several speciality products and services, in the southern part of the Canadian province of Ontario...
and Star Media Group
Star Media Group
Star Media Group is a division of Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation.Star Media Group assets includes:*Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper*Torstar Syndication Services*Fantasy Sports...
.
Star Media Group
Star Media Group is a division of Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. It was created on September 11, 2006 as part of restructuring of the companies assets.Star Media Group includes the flagship Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, Canada's largest daily newspaper, Torstar Syndication Services
Torstar Syndication Services
Torstar Syndication Services is an operating division of Star Media Group led by the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. Star Media Group is a division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a Torstar Company....
a syndication service of content for various publications, Torstar Media Group Television
Torstar Media Group Television
Torstar Media Group Television is a subsidy of Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd.., a division of Torstar Corporation.TMGTV operates ShopTV Canada, a 24-hour direct-response television business operating as well as TMGTV Productions, a direct-response production house, and DRTV Quarterly a Direct...
which is a film/video production unit and includes ShopTV Canada
ShopTV Canada
ShopTV Canada is a Canadian English language cable television direct response television shopping service. It is currently owned by Torstar Media Group Television.-Programming:...
, as well as TMG Production and TMG Entertainment.
Metroland Media Group
Metroland Media GroupMetroland Media Group
Metroland Media Group, also referred to as Metroland is a publisher of daily and weekly community newspapers, as well as several speciality products and services, in the southern part of the Canadian province of Ontario...
is Torstar's largest division. Metroland consists of daily and community newspapers, printing services, flyer distributing and digital operations. Metroland operates over 130 daily and community publications. Metroland publishes over 100 community newspapers including former CityMedia Group publications. Metroland also has as a number of specialty publications and operates several consumer shows. It also published the alternative newspaper Eye Weekly
Eye Weekly
Eye Weekly was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The following week, Torstar launched a successor publication, The Grid.-...
.
Torstar Digital became the digital arm of Star Media Group on Feb 1, 2005. Torstar Digital also owns toronto.com which averages 8 million page views and 615,000 visitors. In October 2005, Torstar announced a joint venture with LiveDeal.com, a US-based company, to create LiveDeal Canada. LiveDeal Canada is an online classifieds provider that provides Canadians with a cost-effective, easy-to-use and efficient marketplace for buying and selling goods. Torstar digital also looks after all newspaper and publication websites including thestar.com.
Metroland will also manage Torstar’s interest in the jointly owned Sing Tao Daily
Sing Tao Daily
The Sing Tao Daily is Hong Kong's second largest Chinese language newspaper. It is owned by Sing Tao News Corporation Limited, of which Charles Ho Tsu Kwok is the chairman. Its English language sister paper is The Standard...
, the largest Chinese language newspaper in Canada. In March 2005, Torstar, CanWest and Metro International
Metro International
Metro International is a Swedish media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the Metro newspapers. Metro International's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 41% since launch of the first newspaper edition in 1995. It is a freesheet, meaning that distribution is...
(each holding a 33.3% interest) announced their new joint venture to launch Metro Vancouver (March 14) and Metro Ottawa (March 30) as well as the Toronto edition of Metro, the largest free daily newspaper in Canada.
Transit Television Network LLC
Transit Television Network, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is the largest out-of-home digital network providing information, entertainment and advertising to transit riders across North America.Book publishing
Torstar operates Harlequin Enterprises LtdHarlequin Enterprises Ltd
Harlequin Enterprises Limited is a Toronto, Ontario-based company that is a publisher of series romance and women's fiction. Owned by the Torstar Corporation, the largest newspaper publisher in Canada, the company publishes approximately 120 new titles each month in 29 different languages in 107...
, a major publisher of women’s fiction romance novel
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
s. It offers a variety of women’s fiction genres in many different formats including mass-market paperback, trade paperback, hardcover, in multiple channels such as retail outlets, direct-to consumer, and e-commerce in over 94 international markets.
Other investments
- Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. (part owner)
- Owns 50% of WorkopolisWorkopolisWorkopolis is a Canadian website offering online career solutions: allowing employers to post jobs and candidates to post resumes in order to connect online. Workopolis also offers career management tools and advice and draws an audience of roughly three million visitors a month...
, - Torstar also owns 20% of Black Press.
Past investments
Torstar recently launched a weekly celebrity-based magazine called Scoop, which folded one year later.Though newspapers have been accused of missing the internet "revolution", in the early 1990s, Torstar became a pioneering investor in the early internet via its purchase of shares in JCI Technologies which created Jobmatch, Automatch and Realtymatch (an MLS search service). In 1995 JCI was selected to be one of the first content providers selected for Microsoft's MSN network prior to MSN's launch in the mid 1990s. By early 1996, JCI potentially had a dominant position in Canada's on-line classified ads with Southam also taking a stake in the company. Shortly after Conrad Black's Hollinger took over of Southam, financing for JCI was pulled and the investment failed just prior to the internet boom of the late 1990s.
Corporate governance
Current members of the board of directorsBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of Torstar are:
- Frank IacobucciFrank IacobucciFrank Iacobucci, CC was a Puisne Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1991 to 2004 when he retired from the bench. He is an expert in business and tax law.-Early career:...
(Chairman) - Don Babick
- B. Neil Clark
- Martin ConnellMartin ConnellMartin Philip Connell, OC, O.Ont is a Canadian business man and philanthropist. He is the 1994 recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace for his work in fighting poverty....
- Jack Fuller
- Christina Gold
- Campbell HarveyCampbell HarveyCampbell Russell “Cam” Harvey is a Canadian economist, known for his work on asset allocation with changing risk and risk premiums and emerging markets finance. He is currently the J...
- John HonderichJohn HonderichJohn Allen Honderich, is a Canadian businessman who was the publisher of the Toronto Star from 1994 to 2004.Born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Beland Honderich, Honderich graduated from Neuchâtel Junior College in Switzerland, the University of Toronto and London School of Economics.His...
- J. Spencer LanthierJ. Spencer LanthierJ. Spencer Lanthier, CM is a chartered accountant and corporate director.Born in Montreal, Quebec, Lanthier was educated at McGill University. In 1960, he joined the accounting firm of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. in Montreal rising to become partner in 1972...
- Sarabjit Marwah
- Peter Mills
- Robert PrichardRobert PrichardFor the theologian at Virginia Theological Seminary, see Robert Prichard John Robert Stobo Prichard, OC, O.Ont is a Canadian lawyer, economist, and academic.-Academia:...
- Lance Primis
- Ronald Osborne
- Martin Thall.