[2] After years of debt, Canwest began to slowly collapse in 2008, amid the Great Recession and later entered bankruptcy protection in late 2009, which led to the sale of its publishing and broadcasting arms the following year to Postmedia Network, founded by National Post CEO Paul Godfrey and Shaw Communications, which later reorganized its media division as Shaw Media.

[7][8] As of April 2009 (prior to seeking creditor protection), Canwest owned, in whole or part, a variety of Canadian media assets, including: The company had previously sold off some of the smaller newspapers it had acquired in the Southam purchase.

Canwest bought controlling interest in Global, now using the callsign CIII-TV, in 1985, thus becoming the first western-based owner of a major Canadian broadcaster.

Canwest also bought broadcasting assets internationally, including outlets in New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, and Australia, although all were eventually sold off.

[10] Lacking a presence in Alberta, the company set its sights on Western International Communications, which owned three independent stations in that province that carried Global programming.

Later that year, Canwest announced its acquisition of the Southam newspaper chain from Conrad Black, in order to pursue a media convergence strategy.

The brands were collectively presented under the "canada.com Network" and included the following (as listed in the website footer): Newspapers: National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, The Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Regina Leader Post, The Saskatoon Star Phoenix, The Vancouver Sun, The Vancouver Province, Victoria Times Colonist, The Windsor Star, Dose, Vancouver Island Newspaper, VANNEET Newspaper; Television: Global, CH, Prime TV, Fox Sports World Canada, Lonestar, Mystery, Xtreme Sports, Deje View, mentv, Cool TV; Radio: CoolFM 99.1, 91.5 The Beat; Marketplace: working.com, driving.ca, connecting, celebrating, remembering, homes.

Under the deal, Canwest took control of the broadcasting portion of AAC, although Goldman Sachs remained a major investor in those assets.

[17] By early 2009, it became clear the company's debt was not manageable during the Great Recession, forcing Canwest into an extended set of negotiations with its lenders and a series of cost-cutting moves.

[19][20] On September 24, the company announced that it would sell its 50.1% stake in Ten Network Holdings for A$680 million,[21] in order to pay down its significant debt.

In court documents, Goldman Sachs alleges "fraudulent" and "abusive" changes to the internal operation of Canwest in the days before it filed for creditor protection.

[22] On October 6, the company voluntarily filed for creditor protection under the CCAA, due to C$4 billion mounting debt across radio, television broadcasting and publishing assets in several countries.

[23] At the same time it announced it had agreed to a recapitalization transaction with some of its lenders, which will likely require the approval of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Several sources say that as CanWest notes increased fivefold in price, distressed-debt funds took profits on part of their position, with Angelo Gordon among the buyers.

[26] On February 3, 2010,[27] it was reported that a group led by Golden Tree Asset Management LP complained that "it was unfairly frozen out of the auction of Canwest Limited Partnership.

Specialty channels operated in partnership with other companies (such as TVtropolis, Mystery TV, MenTV, and the former Alliance Atlantis properties) are also not included in the present filing.

Nevertheless, some analysts expected that the conglomerate would sell assets or be broken up entirely as the restructuring process continues, noting that the publishing division has a separate set of lenders.

[29] On February 25, 2010, it was announced that Shaw Communications had won a court battle to continue their plans to purchase assets & voting shares from Canwest.

[31] This deal was later modified following a second court-ordered mediation to include a settlement agreement between Shaw, creditors, and the Official Ad Hoc Committee of Shareholders, led by the Aspers, Blott Asset Management, L.L.C.

Asper, through his Syngus Corp. holding company, went on to establish Anthem Media Group in 2010 and has since grown into the portfolio through the ownership of Impact Wrestling, AXS TV, Fight Network and GameTV.