Rogers' NHL deal could be called off-side by Regulators: Moody’s

TORONTO – Rogers’ recent $5.2 billion deal for Canadian broadcast and digital rights to NHL games over the next 12 years could be penalized by regulators should they perceive content distribution plans as working against the Canadian consumer, through either restricted access or high price, says Moody's Investors Service.Although the plans for distribution are presently unknown, “commercial logic calls for both wide and proprietary distribution”, reads a new report from Moody’s called ‘Rogers' NHL Deal: Uncharted Territory for Content Distribution and Monetization’.The report says that if Rogers were either a traditional national over-the-air television broadcaster or an approved specialty (cable)...