Table of Contents UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 20-F REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 OR _ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 OR TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from to OR SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Date of event requiring this shell company report...... For the transition period from to Commission file number: 333-13792 QUEBECOR MEDIA INC. (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter) Province of Québec, Canada (Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) 612 St-Jacques Street Montréal, Québec, Canada H3C 4M8 (Address of principal executive offices) Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act. Title of each class Name of each exchange on which registered None None Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act. None (Title of Class) Table of Contents Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act. 5¾% Senior Notes due January 2023 (Title of Class) Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report. 79,377,062.24 Common Shares Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes _ No If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. _ Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes _ No Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one): Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer Non-accelerated filer _ Emerging growth company If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards* provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. *The term ‘‘new or revised financial accounting standard’’ refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012. Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing: U.S. GAAP International Financial Reporting Standards as issued Other by the International Accounting Standards Board _ If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. Item 17 Item 18 If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes _ No Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Explanatory Notes ii Industry and Market Data ii Presentation of Financial Information iii Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements v PART I 1 ITEM 1 — IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS 1 ITEM 2 — OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE 1 ITEM 3 — KEY INFORMATION 1 ITEM 4 — INFORMATION ON THE CORPORATION 24 ITEM 4A — UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS 62 ITEM 5 — OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS 63 ITEM 6 — DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES 111 ITEM 7 — MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS 122 ITEM 8 — FINANCIAL INFORMATION 123 ITEM 9 — THE OFFER AND LISTING 125 ITEM 10 — ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 126 ITEM 11 — QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK 146 ITEM 12 — DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES 147 PART II 148 ITEM 13 — DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES 148 ITEM 14 — MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS 148 ITEM 15 — CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES 148 ITEM 16 — [RESERVED] 149 ITEM 16A — AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT 149 ITEM 16B — CODE OF ETHICS 149 ITEM 16C — PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES 149 ITEM 16D — EXEMPTIONS FROM THE LISTING STANDARDS FOR AUDIT COMMITTEES 150 ITEM 16E — PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS 150 ITEM 16F — CHANGES IN REGISTRANT’S CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT 150 ITEM 16G — CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 150 PART III 151 ITEM 17 — FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 151 ITEM 18 — FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 151 ITEM 19 — EXHIBITS 151 Signature 158 Index to Consolidated Financial Statements F-1 Table of Contents EXPLANATORY NOTES In this annual report, unless otherwise specified, the terms “we,” “our,” “us,” the “Corporation” and “Quebecor Media” refer to Quebecor Media Inc., a corporation under the Business Corporations Act (Québec) and its consolidated subsidiaries, collectively. All references in this annual report to “Videotron” are references to our wholly-owned subsidiary Videotron Ltd. and its subsidiaries; all references in this annual report to “Le SuperClub Vidéotron” are references to our wholly-owned subsidiary Le SuperClub Vidéotron ltée; all references in this annual report to “TVA Group” are references to our public subsidiary TVA Group Inc. and its subsidiaries; all references to “Quebecor Media Printing” are references to our wholly-owned subsidiary Quebecor Media Printing (2015) Inc.; all references to “Quebecor Media Network” are references to our wholly-owned subsidiary Quebecor Media Network Inc.; all references to “MediaQMI” are references to our wholly-owned subsidiary MediaQMI Inc.; all references to “CEC Publishing” are references to our wholly-owned subsidiary CEC Publishing Inc.; all references to “Sogides Group” are references to our wholly- owned subsidiary Sogides Group Inc.; all references to “Select Music” are references to our wholly-owned subsidiary Select Music Inc; all references to “NumériQ” are references to NumériQ Inc.; and all references to “Fibrenoire” are references to Fibrenoire Inc. All references in this annual report to “Quebecor” or “our parent corporation” are references to Quebecor Inc. In this annual report, all references to the “CRTC” are references to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. In this annual report, all references to our “Senior Notes” are references to, collectively, our 5¾% Senior Notes due 2023 5 originally issued on October 11, 2012 and our 6 /8 % Senior Notes due 2023 originally issued on October 11, 2012. INDUSTRY AND MARKET DATA Industry statistics and market data used throughout this annual report were obtained from internal surveys, market research, publicly available information and industry publications, including the CRTC, Numeris, the Canadian Circulation Audit Board, the Alliance for Audited Media, Vividata and ComScore Media Metrix. Industry publications generally state that the information they contain has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but that the accuracy and completeness of this information is not guaranteed. Industry and company data is approximate and may reflect rounding in certain cases. Paid circulation is defined as average sales of a newspaper per issue. Readership (as opposed to paid circulation) is an estimate of the number of people who read or looked into an average issue of a newspaper or magazine and is measured by an independent survey conducted by Vividata. According to the Q3 2018 Vividata study (the “Vividata Study”), the most recent available survey for 2018, readership estimates are based on a multiplatform readership metric of the number of people responding to the Vividata survey circulated by Vividata who report having read or looked into one or more issues of a given newspaper or magazine during a given period equal to the publication interval of the newspaper or magazine. Market share and audiometry information for French speaking viewers in the Province of Québec is based on a survey conducted by Numeris and referenced as Numeris – French Quebec, January 1 to December 31, 2018, Mon-Sun, 2:00 – 2:00, All 2+. Information contained in this annual report concerning the telecommunication and media industries, our general expectations concerning these industries and our market positions and market shares may also be based on estimates and assumptions made by us based on our knowledge of these industries and which we believe to be reliable. We believe, however, that this data is inherently imprecise, although generally indicative of relative market positions and market shares. ii Table of Contents PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION IFRS and Functional Currency Our audited consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014 have been prepared in accordance with International