ZoomerMedia Limited is a Canadian media company. Founded by veteran media executive

Moses Znaimer Moses Znaimer (; born 1942) is a Canadian media executive. He is the co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia. Early life and education Znai ...

, the company has interests in radio, television, and digital media. The company focuses primarily on lifestyle properties appealing to adults 45–65 (including

baby boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the demographic cohort preceded by the Silent Generation and followed by Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom that ...

), being formed from Znaimer's acquisition of publishing and digital assets affiliated with

CARP The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

. The company later acquired the broadcasting assets of

S-VOX S-VOX Foundation was a Canadian non-profit media organization dedicated to producing content on spirituality. The organization is the successor to the non-profit entity that operated VisionTV, and later other related Canadian speciality channel ...

(including specialty channel

VisionTV VisionTV is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language Category A services, Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic. VisionTV is ...

), and subsumed other privately held assets that had been owned by Znaimer directly (including three Toronto radio stations). In the 2020s, it began to expand into digital properties targeting a young adult audience, including ''BlogTO,'' ''

Daily Hive ''Daily Hive'', formerly known as ''Vancity Buzz'', is a Canadian online newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It began digital publishing in 2008 and became Western Canada's largest online-only publication by 2016. In September 2022 ...

'', ''The Peak'', and ''MobileSyrup''.

History

ZoomerMedia was announced in February 2008 by Moses Znaimer—a veteran Canadian media executive that had recently been named the executive director of

—via his acquisitions of Kemur Publishing and Fifty-Plus.Net International. The two companies had originally been established by CARP's founders Lillian and Murray Morgenthau to house for-profit publishing and internet businesses that could not fall directly under the non-profit association; they provided revenue to CARP via

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

and other business agreements with the organization. Znaimer acquired the companies for $13.1 million in a

reverse takeover A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compa ...

, going public on the

TSX Venture Exchange The TSX Venture Exchange is a stock exchange in Canada. It is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta and Vancouver, British Columbia, with offices in Toronto and Montreal. All trading through the Exchange is done electronically, so the Exchange does n ...

in July of that year. The name of the company is derived from "zoomer", a term coined in 2000 by Znaimer for

"with zip" who wanted to live actively after retirement; as such, its operations would consist of businesses that target people between the ages of 45 and 65. ZoomerMedia would maintain its affiliations with CARP, with plans announced for its magazine to be relaunched as ''Zoomer Magazine'' under new publisher Suzanne Boyd, and the company expanding the "Zoomer" brand into other ventures targeting the demographic, such as the

social networking service A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interest ...

Zoomer.com, and the ZoomerShow expo in Toronto In June 2009, ZoomerMedia announced a deal to acquire the broadcasting assets of

, which included conventional stations

CHNU-TV CHNU-DT (channel 66) is a Religious broadcasting, religious independent television station serving southwestern British Columbia, Canada, including Metro Vancouver, Greater Vancouver, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, the Fraser Valley and s ...

and

CIIT-TV CIIT-DT (channel 35) is a religious broadcasting, religious independent television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, owned by ZoomerMedia. The station's studios are located on Osborne Street and Wardlaw Avenue in Winnipeg, and its transmitt ...

, along with specialty channels

and a stake in

One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

for $25 million. Alongside the acquisition of S-VOX, ZoomerMedia also planned to subsume MZ Media—a private company held by Znaimer that owned the Toronto radio stations CFMZ-FM, CFMX-FM, and

CFZM CFZM (740 kHz) is an commercial Canadian AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario. It is owned by ZoomerMedia, headed by Canadian broadcaster Moses Znaimer. It airs an adult standards and oldies format, branded as ''Zoomer Radio'', with the slog ...

. Following the transactions (which required the approval of minority shareholders and the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; ) is a public organization in Canada tasked with the mandate as a regulatory agency tribunal for various electronic communications, covering broadcasting and telecommunic ...

(CRTC), Znaimer owns 66% of the combined company, and insurance company

Fairfax Financial Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a Canadian financial holding company based in Toronto, Ontario, engaged in property, casualty, insurance and reinsurance, investment management, and insurance claims management. The company operates primari ...

owns 28%. All of these transactions were completed on June 30, 2010. Later, on September 28, 2010, ZoomerMedia relocated its headquarters to 64 Jefferson Avenue. In 2022, ZoomerMedia began to acquire young adult-oriented digital properties, acquiring the publisher of ''BlogTO'' in February 2022, and the publisher of ''

'' in September 2022. Chief digital officer Omri Tintpulver explained that despite being positioned towards young adults, ''BlogTO'' still had a sizable reach among ZoomerMedia's core demographic market, and that the site would also allow it to reach wider demographics, pursue "integrated" multi-platform advertising opportunities, and leverage its experience in developing digital and social media content. On February 8, 2024,

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (Canadian French, French: ) is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc. (also known as Bell Canada Enterprises, the owner of telecommunications company Bell Canada). Its operations include nati ...

announced that it would sell its Owen Sound radio station CJOS-FM to ZoomerMedia. In June 2024,

Blue Ant Media Blue Ant Media Inc. is a Canadian broadcasting and media company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company was founded by Michael MacMillan and formed in 2011 following the acquisition of Glassbox Television. Its name was chosen in reference ...

sold the mobile and technology news website MobileSyrup to ZoomerMedia.

Assets

Conventional television stations

ZoomerMedia's two conventional stations were part of a television system known as ''Joytv'' until August 2013 when CIIT was rebranded as "Hope TV" and dropped all non-religious programming. As Joytv, they were licensed as religious television stations that air religious-based programs in addition to other family friendly and entertainment programs. Both were previously owned by S-VOX. They had previously been a part of the

Omni Television Omni Television (stylized as OMNI Television) is a Canadian television system and group of specialty channels owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. It currently consists of all six of Canada's conventional multi ...

system, having been previously owned by Trinity Television before the sale to Rogers. Rogers sold the two stations to S-VOX on March 31, 2008. *

CHNU-DT CHNU-DT (channel 66) is a religious independent television station serving southwestern British Columbia, Canada, including Greater Vancouver, Victoria, the Fraser Valley and surrounding areas. Licensed to the Fraser Valley Regional District, ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

(Joytv) *

CIIT-DT CIIT-DT (channel 35) is a religious independent television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, owned by ZoomerMedia. The station's studios are located on Osborne Street and Wardlaw Avenue in Winnipeg, and its transmitter is located near Cou ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

(FaithTV)

Specialty channels

(Canada) and ZoomerTV (United States) *

(Canada) and ONETV US (United States)

Radio

* CFMZ-FM,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

(''The New Classical 96.3 FM'') *

, Toronto, Ontario (''Zoomer Radio'') * CFMX-FM,

Cobourg Cobourg ( ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto and east of Oshawa. It is the largest town in and seat of Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is ...

, Ontario (''Classical 103.1'') * CFMO-FM, Collingwood, Ontario (''Classical 102.9'') * CJOS-FM,

Owen Sound Owen Sound (2021 Canadian Census, 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat, seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi River, Pottawatomi and Sydenham River ...

, Ontario (''Zoomer 92.3'')

Magazines

*''On the Bay'' *''Tonic'' *''Zoomer Magazine''

Digital

*EverythingZoomer.com * Buzz Connected Media **''

'' *The Peak *blogTO.com *Ludwig-Van.com

Other assets

*Fresh Daily Inc **BlogTO *MZTV Museum of Television *MZTV Production & Distribution *ideaCity (Conference) *Marketing / membership operations of

* VoxBox *Zoomer Management Limited *ZoomerCard *ZoomerShow

References

External links

ZoomerMedia
{{ZoomerMedia Companies listed on the TSX Venture Exchange Companies based in Toronto Canadian companies established in 2008 Television broadcasting companies of Canada Mass media companies established in 2008 2008 establishments in Ontario