EDMONTON – Using some of the most inflammatory language we’ve seen in a press release (invoking both a rodent and the seal hunt), supporters of pay TV service Super Channel are calling for people to boycott Rogers Cable.
The must-carry pay channel is currently operating under creditor protection and the Allard-family-owned service recently won a victory at the CRTC, where the Regulator said Rogers wasn’t marketing the new service fairly, as we reported nearly two weeks ago.
Super Channel also has a civil case pending against Rogers.
But the press release, issued Tuesday evening by “The Friends of Super Channel” and lists former employee Nic Wry as its contact person, takes the battle further, with a headline that reads: “Cable Weasel (Rogers) is Ferreted out” and referencing the recent Commission decision.
Wry retired from Super Channel in 2008.
The press release notes Super Channel’s production funding initiatives ($2 million a year for development financing; 32% of its gross subscriber revenue to Canadian programming; and establishing in each province a creative development representative to help producers) are threatened with the pay channel’s low penetration among Rogers subscribers.
“As you may know, the broadcast distribution undertakings (BDUs) in Canada reach over 90% of Canadian households and six BDUs – Rogers, Shaw, Bell TV, Shaw direct, Videotron and Cogeco, control access to over 91% of cable and DTH subscribers. In essence, this small number of BDUs has the capacity of life and death over new services such as Super Channel. BDUs can choose who wins and who loses based on what is best for their companies and not necessarily what is best for the consumer,” reads the release.
“Since its launch Super Channel has worked hard with all of Canada’s BDUs to try and ensure Canadians are aware that there now is choice in the marketplace for Canadian pay television services. However one BDU, the largest in the country (Rogers) has shown little interest in promoting Super Channel, and in fact is discouraging people from buying Super Channel and pushing them to take TMN instead.”
Then, quoting both the deceased head of RCI, Ted Rogers, and his former boss Charles Allard, Wry’s release continues, claiming the Rogers founder “said in a telephone conversation with Charles Allard of Super Channel, on more than one occasion that ‘Super Channel is being treated outrageously.’ Ted told Chuck that he so disagreed with the Rogers Cable team that at a recent CRTC structural hearing that he had to stand up and disagree with the Rogers panel. He said he could not agree with their presentation because he was a broadcaster and it was clear he did not see eye to eye with them,” reads today’s release.
Super Channel also recently told the Parliamentary Heritage Committee that Rogers had the lowest penetration levels of all BDUs with only one third of one percent.
“Super Channel representatives told the committee they had done research into how Rogers customer services agents were selling Super Channel. It came out that 97% of all the calls requesting movie services were directed exclusively to TMN. Even if customers specifically asked for Super Channel, the customer service representatives dissuaded customers from purchasing Super Channel and pushed them to purchase TMN instead,” reads the press release.
“When the CSRs were asked if any movie services were available other than TMN, Super Channel was only offered 10 percent of the time. Rogers customer service representatives said the following:
‘I’m not that familiar with Super Channel, but TMN is better.’
‘All of us (CSR’s) have The Movie Network.’
‘Super Channel is not as popular as TMN.’
“There are hundreds of such examples in our research in which Rogers CSRs push customers away from Super Channel to the Movie Network even if the customers call to order Super Channel,” continues the release. “If this situation is not quickly resolved it will be impossible for new services like Super Channel to achieve the cultural and business objectives of their CRTC license.
“If the BDUs made any effort to support Super Channel the 32% could easily equate to $30 million a year to the production industry,” it continued, adding “(h)undreds of Canadian producers are going to go bankrupt as a result of Rogers actions.”
So, the Wry release then calls upon Canadians to boycott Rogers, saying that “Super Channel is the seal pup and Rogers are the sealers.”
It also then lists the contact information for Rogers vice-chairman Phil Lind so people can complain and urges folks to “(b)ring this up in forums, parties or anywhere else you can create awareness,” concluding with:
“Boycott Rogers Now!”