ROGERS COMMUNUCATIONS' BLOCKBUSTER NHL deal puts a direct focus on the sheer costs of sports programming for distributors and their customers, the Canadian consumer.
Cartt.ca interviewed several executives across the Canadian television industry (including some distributors who spoke to us on the condition they not be identified) to discuss the impact sports is having on broadcasting in Canada and whether or not the business can survive the spiralling costs of this rich content.
Alyson Townsend, president of the independent cable group Canadian Cable System Alliance, said no one should be surprised by the consistent price increases consumers have paid for cable…
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ST. JOHN’S – Phil Keeping, proud Newfoundlander and founder of cable companies including N1 Cable TV and Cable Bahamas, died suddenly in Mount Pearl, NL on December 9. He was 65. He fell from a mechanical scissor lift inside a Harley Davidson dealership he owned, reportedly while changing a light fixture.
Keeping was involved in the telecommunications and cable TV industry for more than four decades. After starting his career in the early 1970s as a coast guard in the telecommunications group of Transport Canada, he left to found N1 Cable TV Ltd. in 1986 which, in partnership with Canadian…
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WHILE THAT LOGIC HAS BEEN applied to real estate, sports networks are using it when it comes to insulating themselves from ever-increasing rights fees.
Buoyed by the success it has achieved since the late Ted Rogers bought the Toronto Blue Jays basically as programming for Sportsnet back in 2000 (not to mention as part of the huge “Rogers” branding exercise as wireless phones took off), the media company is looking at owning even more sports properties – and in a deeper fashion.
It began last year when Sportsnet got wind that that the Grand Slam of Curling might be coming on…
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I’VE BEEN COVERING this business since 1997 but not until now do I have my first ever actual submission, well co-submission, to the CRTC. It’s not a traditional one but I do hope Cartt.ca readers – and anyone else for that matter – find it interesting.
When we first heard of the Commission’s idea for flash conferences as a way to inform its overhaul of the policies governing television in Canada, I immediately wondered what I could do in Cartt.ca’s hometown of Hamilton, Ont. It’s a neat idea and kudos to whomever came up with it at the Regulator.
Since I’m…
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– BEVERLY HILLS, Calif – Netflix has extended and expanded its licensing agreement with the CBC to offer new shows and new seasons of homegrown favourites to Canadian members.
The deal will add the popular Murdoch Mysteries (pictured) to the service for the first time, plus include new seasons of currently available CBC TV shows including Republic of Doyle, Heartland, Mr. D, and Dragons' Den.
"Through this agreement Canadians will continue to enjoy a range of CBC programming on Netflix," said Bob Kerr, senior director, licensing division, CBC Revenue Group. "We are delighted that Netflix continues to invest in CBC as…
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– OTTAWA – While different generations use and adopt technologies in different ways, both Boomers and Millennials are avid users of the Internet and wireless, according to two new studies from Media Technology Monitor.
The studies examined the media technology adoption and use of Boomers (aged 47 – 67 years) and Millennials (18 to 33 year olds). While the younger tech savvy generation often act as the early adopters, the older more affluent generations can push pricey technologies in to the mainstream.
Profile of Boomers’ media technology adoption and use:– Younger Boomers are among the highest income earners, giving them more disposable…
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A FEW YEARS AGO, when digital video recorders first appeared on the scene, many predicted big trouble for the TV industry. Broadcasters sued or threatened to.
After all, if people could record their favourite shows and zip through commercials when watching them hours or even days later how long would it take advertisers who want their messages to be seen and acted on rightnow to lose faith in television's all-encompassing power?
But while many feared the power of the DVR (or PVR), those on the sports side almost welcomed it as an affirmation of the drawing power of that content. They…
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THE SHEER SIZE OF the recent National Hockey League broadcast rights deal with Rogers Communications — an unprecedented $5.2 billion for 12 years – is enough to bend the mind of even the most plugged-in industry watcher.
But what's equally staggering is how fast this all came together. The biggest deal in Canadian broadcast history was conceived and born in the space of about two months. “I've never seen a deal come together this quickly or this smoothly," says Rogers Media president Keith Pelley. “It's really amazing when you think about it."
Driving the need for speed was the lack of…
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TORONTO – With 100 days to go to the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) announced fully accessible broadcast and electronic media plans for the most comprehensive coverage ever offered in Canada for a Paralympic Games – more than 65 hours of broadcast and up to 350 hours of digital streaming, connecting Canadians via multi platforms.
Through a new broadcast model, the CPC has secured the Canadian broadcast rights to the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games and RIO 2016, and will lead the Paralympic Broadcast Consortium partners in creating coverage on five broadcast/digital platforms: CBC/Radio-Canada, Sportsnet…
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MONTREAL – This could be the final year for the puns of Ron McLean and the bombast of Don Cherry.
While Rogers Communications and the CBC have come to an agreement where Hockey Night In Canada will remain a staple on the public broadcaster for four more years, viewers will likely be in for a shock – just as the folks working the program at CBC were surprised this morning.
In a memo to staff, CBC CEO Hubert Lacroix called today’s announcement that Rogers has signed an exclusive $5.2 billion 12-year contract with the NHL for the broadcast and multiplatform…
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