Canwest Global Communications Corp. Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results

Non-cash impairment charge recorded against Publishing
WINNIPEG--(Business Wire)--
Canwest Global Communications Corp. ("Canwest" or the "Company") today reported
for the three months ended May 31, 2009 revenues of $727 million compared to
$846 million for the same period last year. Operating profit before
restructuring and impairment expenses was $118 million for the third quarter
compared to $182 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2008.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2009, reported revenues decreased 7% to
$2.24 billion and reported operating profit before restructuring impairment and
other one time expenses declined by 27% to $410 million.

For the three months ended May 31, 2009, the Company reported a net loss of $110
million - including a non-cash $247 million impairment of goodwill in Canwest`s
Publishing operations, interest rate and foreign currency swap losses of $177
million and foreign exchange gains of $368 million primarily related to the
foreign currency gains associated with the U.S. dollar debt that is no longer
hedged. For the nine months ended May 31, 2009, the Company reported a net loss
of $1.58 billion.

The nature of the impairments are consistent with those of other media
organizations throughout North America and reflect lower future profit
expectations as a result of the current outlook for advertising revenues in the
operations. All are non-cash charges to income that do not affect Canwest`s
liquidity, cash flows from operating activities, debt covenants or have any
impact on future operations.

For the three and nine month period Canwest reported the following:

in millions of dollars, Three months change Nine months change

except per share amounts
ended May 31
ended May 31
2009 2008 2009 2008
Reported Results
Revenues 727 846 (14)% 2,243 2,406 (7)%
Operating profit(1) before restructuring, 118 182 (35)% 410 558 (27)%

impairments and other one time expenses
Operating profit 66 178 (63)% 285 494 (42)%
Net loss (110) (28) n/m (1,579) (22) n/m
EPS (0.62) (0.16) (8.89) (0.12)
Adjusted Net Earnings(2)
Adjusted net earnings (loss) (57) 12 n/m (33) 56 n/m
Adjusted EPS (0.32) 0.07 (0.18) 0.32

"Even in a difficult economy we continue to have industry leading results in our
business units," Canwest President and CEO Leonard Asper said. "While much
attention has been focused on our efforts to recapitalize, we are continuing to
invest in our businesses in order to drive operating results."

He added: "This includes selling non-core assets, purchasing a strong television
line-up for next season, investing in quality domestic programming, focusing
greater resources on local audiences in publishing, and building our digital
media properties, online video and other content."

Segmented Results

Publishing

Revenues for the Company's publishing operations for the third quarter were $269
million, 19% lower than revenues of $333 million for the same period in fiscal
2008. Publishing EBITDA of $46 million for the third quarter was down 42% from
$79 million in fiscal 2008. For the nine months ended May 31, 2009, revenues
were $861 million and EBITDA was $152 million down 14% and 37% respectively,
from similar periods last year. The declines in revenues and operating profits,
partially offset by lower operating expenses, continue to reflect the impact of
global economic pressures felt across all markets.

Canadian Television combined (Canadian Television and CW Media)

Canadian television operations, including the CW Media specialty television
operations reported third quarter revenues of $276 million, 2% lower than the
previous year. Operating profit in the third quarter was $74 million, down 3%
compared to $76 million the previous year. For the nine months ended May 31,
2009, revenues were $816 million, down 1%, and EBITDA was $182 million up 10%,
from similar periods last year. These results continue to reflect the industry
leading revenue and audience performance of the specialty television operations
as well as merger synergies and other cost containment initiatives, and above
industry revenue performance on conventional television.

Australian Television

Network TEN's third quarter revenue of $151 million was down 22%, (16% in local
currency) as compared to the same quarter in fiscal 2008. Network TEN`s EBITDA
of $5 million was down 86% from the $35 million a year earlier. For the nine
months ended May 31, 2009, reported revenues were $465 million and EBITDA was
$99 million, down 19% and 43% respectively, from similar periods last year.
These results continue to be impacted by the challenging and difficult
Australian advertising market but do not reflect the recent strong ratings
performance of Network TEN that only occurred as the third quarter was underway.

Highlights of the third quarter and subsequent period

* Canwest secured $175 million in financing from two new facilities for its
subsidiary Canwest Media Inc.
* Canwest completed the sale of its interests in four Turkish radio stations.
* Canwest agreed to sell its two conventional television stations, CHCH in
Hamilton and CJNT in Montreal to Channel Zero.
* Canwest has 5 of the top 10 specialty analog channels(3)up from 4 last year.
History Television has become the second most watched specialty channel as its
audience has increased by 49% and Showcase has increased its audience by 32%.
* Canwest maintained its dominance of specialty digital channels with 8 of the
Top 10 digital channels(3).

* Network TEN in Australia is the number one network in primetime in both the
key demographics of 18-49 and 16-39. TEN`s new programs MasterChef Australia,
Talking` `bout Your Generation, Recruits, and Merlin are proving to be the new
hit shows of the season.
* Canwest`s digital network attracted on average 7.2 million overall unique
visitors monthly, a 47% increase from the third quarter last year and is now the
5th ranked portal on the comScore ranking.
* Canada.com Newspapers ranked No. 1 in the newspaper category with 3.5 million
unique monthly visitors, an increase of 47% from the third quarter last year.
* GlobalTV.com has now become Canada`s No. 1 website for Broadcast Video with
the most overall video plays of any Canadian broadcaster with 6.4 million video
streams, up 895%. Canwest re-launched GlobalTV.com with a new look that offers
over 30 refurbished show microsites, complete with online exclusives,
behind-the-scene sneak peaks, cast interviews, comprehensive photo galleries,
and a redesigned video player.

Outlook:

In March 2009, Canwest Media Inc. did not make an interest payment which was due
on its 8% senior subordinated notes and is in default under the terms of that
indenture. The Company is in discussions with various parties, including the
members of the ad hoc committee of holders of 8% senior subordinated notes of
Canwest Media Inc., regarding the recapitalization of the Company that may
involve a cash investment and/or a conversion of certain of its existing debt to
equity, to reduce the debt of Canwest Media Inc. The Company believes that a
significant reduction in its debt is necessary to resolve its liquidity issues
and to continue to operate. Failure to complete an agreement in principle on a
recapitalization transaction with the members of the ad hoc committee of the 8%
senior subordinated note holders prior to the expiry of its forbearance
agreement on July 17, 2009 or to such later date as maybe agreed could result in
a demand to immediately repay all Canwest Media Inc. debt. There can be no
assurance that a recapitalization will be completed.

Canwest Limited Partnership, is in default under the terms of its senior credit
facilities, its senior subordinated credit facility and its senior subordinated
notes indenture because it failed to make payments of interest and principal due
in May 2009 on its senior credit facility and its related hedging derivative
instruments and it failed to satisfy the demand for immediate repayment of its
obligations related to the hedging derivative instruments. The defaults under
the terms of the debt could result in a demand to immediately repay the debt of
the Limited Partnership. The payments were deferred in order to preserve
liquidity to fund operations while the Canwest Limited Partnership works to
effect a recapitalization transaction.

Canwest remains focused on reducing operating expenses and driving revenues to
enable the Company to capitalize on the economy when it begins to improve.
Canwest continues pursue a reorganization of its capital structure that will
allow the Company to satisfy its obligations which are currently in default.

Notes:

(1) Operating profit is defined as earnings before interest, income taxes,
amortization of intangibles and property and equipment, other amortization,
accretion of long-term liabilities, interest income, interest rate and foreign
currency swap gains (losses), foreign exchange gains (losses), investment gains,
losses and write-downs, impairment losses on property and equipment, intangible
assets and goodwill, minority interest, interest in earnings of equity accounted
affiliates, realized currency translation adjustments and loss from discontinued
operations. This supplementary earnings measure does not have a standardized
meaning prescribed by Canadian generally accepted accounting principles and may
not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies nor should it
be viewed as an alternative to net earnings. When used in relation to our
operating segments it is a GAAP measure because it is our segment profitability
measure. The reconciliation of operating profit to net earnings is evident on
the face of the following consolidated statements of earnings found at the end
of this release.

(2) Excludes the impact of foreign currency and interest rate swap gains/losses,
foreign exchange gains/losses, investment gains, losses and write-downs,
impairments of property and equipment, intangibles and goodwill, restructuring
expenses, broadcast rights write-downs, discontinued operations, retirement plan
curtailment expense, related income tax effects and future income tax valuation
allowances.

(3) In the Adult 25-54 demographic

Forward Looking Statements:

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements about the
objectives, strategies, financial conditions, results of operations and
businesses of Canwest. Statements that are not historical facts are
forward-looking and are subject to important risks, uncertainties and
assumptions.These statements are based on our current expectations about our
business and the markets in which we operate, and upon various estimates and
assumptions.The results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements
may differ materially from actual results or events if known or unknown risks,
trends or uncertainties affect our business, or if our estimates or assumptions
turn out to be inaccurate.As a result, there is no assurance that the
circumstances described in any forward-looking statement will
materialize.Significant and reasonably foreseeable factors that could cause our
results to differ materially from our current expectations are discussed in the
section entitled "Risk Factors" contained in our Annual Information Form for the
year ended August 31, 2008 dated November 24, 2008 filed by Canwest Global
Communications Corp. with the Canadian securities commissions (available on
SEDAR atwww.sedar.com ), as updated in our most recent Management's Discussion
and Analysis for the three and nine months ended May 31, 2009. Unless required
by law, we disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking
statement even if new information becomes available, as a result of future
events or for any other reason.

Canwest Global Communications Corp. financial statements and Management`s
Discussion and Analysis for three and nine months ended May 31, 2009 are
available on the Company's website: www.canwest.com.

Financial statements and Management`s Discussion and Analysis for three and nine
months ended May 31, 2009 for Canwest Media Inc. can be found on
www.canwest.com.

Financial statements and Management`s Discussion and Analysis for three and nine
months ended May 31, 2009 for Canwest Limited Partnership can be found on
www.canwest.com.

Financial statements for Ten Network Holdings Limited can be found at
www.tencorporate.com.au.

The Company will hold its regular quarterly conference call with analysts on
July 10, 2009 at 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time. The call-in numbers are
416-644-3414 or 800-732-9307. Replays are also available for ten days following
the call at 416-640-1917 or 877-289-8525 [using the pass-code 21310154 followed
by the pound sign.]

About Canwest Global Communications Corp.

Canwest Global Communications Corp. (www.canwest.com), (TSX: CGS and CGS.A,) an
international media company, is Canada`s largest media company. In addition to
owning the Global Television Network, Canwest is Canada`s largest publisher of
English language daily newspapers and owns, operates and/or holds substantial
interests in conventional television, out-of-home advertising, specialty cable
channels, and web sites in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, Indonesia,
Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.

CANWEST GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS CORP.

BUSINESS SEGMENT INFORMATION

(UNAUDITED)

(in thousands of Canadian dollars)

For the three months ended For the nine months ended
May 31, 2009 May 31, 2009 May 31, 2009 May 31, 2008
(Revised) (Revised)
REVENUE
Publishing 268,643 332,992 861,347 999,341
Television
Canada 174,755 182,658 520,960 543,946
CW Media 101,144 98,542 294,702 279,439
275,899 281,200 815,662 823,385
Australia 150,733 194,134 464,678 575,122
Total television 426,632 475,334 1,280,340 1,398,507

Out-of-home 31,786 40,750 102,780 122,107
Intersegment revenues (224 ) (2,916 ) (1,402 ) (5,192 )
726,837 846,160 2,243,065 2,514,763
Elimination of equity accounted affiliates - - - (108,767 )
CONSOLIDATED REVENUE 726,837 846,160 2,243,065 2,405,996

OPERATING PROFIT
Publishing 45,789 79,050 152,073 241,850
Television
Canada 20,938 38,633 52,395 63,701
CW Media 53,043 37,488 129,156 101,491
73,981 76,121 181,551 165,192
Australia 4,964 34,747 98,696 173,353
Total television 78,945 110,868 280,247 338,545

Out-of-home (1,269 ) 1,124 (1,267 ) 5,972
Corporate and other (5,857 ) (9,269 ) (20,720 ) (28,020 )
117,608 181,773 410,333 558,347
Restructuring expenses (14,948 ) (4,018 ) (49,242 ) (20,274 )
Broadcast rights write-downs (5,026 ) - (45,222 ) -
Retirement plan curtailment expense (31,300 ) - (31,300 ) -
66,334 177,755 284,569 538,073
Elimination of equity accounted affiliates - - - (44,440 )
OPERATING PROFIT(1) 66,334 177,755 284,569 493,633

(1) Operating profit is defined as earnings before interest, income taxes,
amortization of intangibles and property and equipment, other amortization,
accretion of long-term liabilities, interest income, interest rate and foreign
currency swap losses, foreign exchange gains, investment gains, losses and
write-downs, impairment losses on property and equipment, intangible assets and
goodwill, minority interest, interest in earnings of equity accounted
affiliates, realized currency translation adjustments and earnings (loss) from
discontinued operations. This supplementary earnings measure does not have a
standardized meaning prescribed by Canadian generally accepted accounting
principles and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other
companies nor should it be viewed as an alternative to net earnings. When used
in relation to our operating segments it is a GAAP measure because it is our
segment profitability measure. The reconciliation of operating profit to net
earnings is evident on the face of the following consolidated statements of
earnings.

CANWEST GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS CORP.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF LOSS

(UNAUDITED)

(In thousands of Canadian dollars except as otherwise noted)

For the three months ended For the nine months ended
May 31, 2009 May 31, 2008 May 31, 2009 May 31, 2008
(Revised) (Revised)
Revenue 726,837 846,160 2,243,065 2,405,996
Operating expenses 434,656 435,937 1,259,325 1,242,623
Selling, general and administrative expenses 174,573 228,450 573,407 649,466
Restructuring expenses 14,948 4,018 49,242 20,274
Broadcast rights write-downs 5,026 - 45,222 -
Retirement plan curtailment expense 31,300 - 31,300 -
66,334 177,755 284,569 493,633
Amortization of intangible assets 1,937 2,191 6,026 6,839
Amortization of property and equipment 25,434 29,141 79,554 82,294
Other amortization 146 50 334 382
Operating income 38,817 146,373 198,655 404,118
Interest expense (88,396 ) (78,722 ) (244,592 ) (238,926 )
Accretion of long-term liabilities (27,995 ) (26,274 ) (66,057 ) (74,352 )
Interest income 804 1,093 1,996 20,763
Interest rate and foreign currency swap losses (177,461 ) (19,842 ) (157,491 ) (60,772 )
Foreign exchange gains 368,270 962 284,891 5,235
Investment gains, losses and write-downs 246 (24,738 ) (6,426 ) (22,202 )
Impairment loss on property and equipment (44 ) - (32,418 ) -
Impairment loss on intangible assets - - (198,091 ) -
Impairment loss on goodwill (246,900 ) - (1,158,339 ) -
(132,659 ) (1,148 ) (1,377,872 ) 33,864
Provision for (recovery of) income taxes (34,650 ) 16,954 151,729 42,060
Loss before the following (98,009 ) (18,102 ) (1,529,601 ) (8,196 )
Minority interest (2,599 ) (9,242 ) 4,023 (48,088 )
Interest in earnings of equity accounted affiliates 455 129 1,010 39,706
Realized currency translation adjustments (609 ) - (825 ) (1,062 )
Net loss from continuing operations (100,762 ) (27,215 ) (1,525,393 ) (17,640 )
Loss from sale of discontinued operations (8,950 ) - (8,950 ) -
Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations 115 (1,169 ) (44,201 ) (3,875 )
Net loss from discontinued operations (8,835 ) (1,169 ) (53,151 ) (3,875 )
Net loss for the period (109,597 ) (28,384 ) (1,578,544 ) (21,515 )

Loss per share from continuing operations:
Basic ($0.57 ) ($0.15 ) ($8.59 ) ($0.10 )
Diluted ($0.57 ) ($0.15 ) ($8.59 ) ($0.10 )

Loss per share:
Basic ($0.62 ) ($0.16 ) ($8.89 ) ($0.12 )
Diluted ($0.62 ) ($0.16 ) ($8.89 ) ($0.12 )

Canwest Global Communications Corp.
Media:
John Douglas, 204-953-7737
Vice President, Public Affairs
jdouglas@canwest.com
or
Investors:
Hugh Harley, 204-953-7731
Director, Investor Relations
hharley@canwest.com

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