Rogers Communications confirmed Wednesday the multi-year deals it recently signed with NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) will see the cable company launch the Bravo channel here in Canada on Sept. 1 and channels for HGTV, Food Network, Magnolia, Discovery ID and Discovery starting Jan. 1, 2025.
“We’re delivering the best combination of linear channels and on-demand content from these coveted brands, building on Rogers investment to bring Canadians the best sports and entertainment in the way they want to watch it,” Colette Watson, president of Rogers Sports & Media, said in a press…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers says it cannot be expected to continue negotiations to carry OneSoccer because it believes the service was controlled by a non-Canadian at the time the purported owner, Timeless Inc., filed a complaint with the CRTC alleging the cable giant gave itself an undue preference by refusing to broadcast its programming.
Over a year after the CRTC ruled that Rogers must negotiate with Timeless on OneSoccer’s carriage, the broadcaster has filed a Part 1 application made public Friday alleging the CRTC didn’t have the authority to make that ruling because the soccer service was controlled…
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By Connie Thiessen
Edward Rogers has been promoted to executive chair at Rogers Communications.
The appointment was unanimously confirmed at a board of directors meeting on Wednesday in Calgary. Rogers, 55, will continue to lead the board as he’s done since 2018, with the exception of a one-month gap in 2021 during a family power struggle for control of the company.
“This appointment simply recognizes the role Edward is performing at the company,” said lead director Robert Gemmell in a Rogers announcement. “The company has never been stronger thanks to Tony’s leadership and Edward’s stewardship. Today’s appointment merely formalizes Edward’s role.”
The company…
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The CRTC has asked Rogers and Cogeco to continue to provide competitors access to their networks as the regulator moves to address the impact of copper decommissioning on the wholesale internet market.
On the same day the regulator released its wholesale rate decision, the CRTC sent a letter to various large and regional telecoms Tuesday notifying them that it is asking Rogers and Cogeco to continue to provide competitors access to its older facilities as they move toward pure fibre.
Rogers and TekSavvy asked the CRTC in June to suspend a Part 1 application filed by the independent…
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By Connie Thiessen
Corus Entertainment has filed a complaint with the CRTC, alleging Rogers’ undue disadvantage in the wake of its merger last year with Shaw Communications, is leading it to engage “in predatory behaviour, enabled by dominant size and scale, to foreclose on potential competition.”
The Part 1 application, published in redacted form on the CRTC website on Monday, focuses specifically on Rogers move to offer the ad-supported version of Disney+ to existing Ignite TV customers, which Corus says is part of an effort to lure subscribers away from its Disney-themed specialty channels. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that Rogers has “actively favoured Disney+ over Corus’ Disney-themed channels when subscribers attempt to search for content;…
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Rogers and Vancouver-based SenseNet announced Tuesday a partnership to introduce wildfire detection technology to 10 communities in Alberta and British Columbia.
Powered by the Rogers 5G network, SenseNet’s wildfire detection tech will integrate advanced gas sensors, smoke detection cameras, AI algorithms and real-time data analysis to provide accurate and early alerts for wildfires, according to a Rogers press release.
The 10 communities to initially benefit from the partnership include Sparwood and Willowvale in British Columbia, and Christina Lake, Grand Prairie, Jasper, Marmot Mountain, Peerless Lake, Pelican Mountain, Wabasca-Desmarais and Wood Buffalo in Alberta. The cameras and sensors will…
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CRTC staff said in a letter last week to Rogers that it is suspending consideration of the cable company’s Part 1 application for an immediate temporary stay of the speed-matching requirement for its recently introduced retail gigabit internet services until Rogers files proposed wholesale tariffs for the new speed tiers.
Rogers filed its interim stay request on July 25, the same day it launched its new gigabit services to retail customers. However, it has not yet filed a tariff application to introduce these new speed tiers at the wholesale level, the commission notes in…
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Rogers busines rep says it wouldn’t have entered into a major licensing deal if representations were not accurate
By Ahmad Hathout
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) allegedly failed to disclose to Rogers that the U.S.-based producer of television programming had an outstanding two-year non-compete agreement with previous rights holder Bell before the cable giant signed a multi-year deal for those rights in June, a new court filing reveals.
The non-competition covenant, in effect, would have prevented WBD from engaging a competing service – in this case, Rogers – on the supply of its programming for the two-year period, per the shareholder agreement. Rogers…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers is asking for the CRTC’s assistance in breaking an impasse in which the cable company and the city of Ottawa cannot come to an agreement on certain terms for a new municipal access agreement (MAA).
The parties have been working since their previous 10-year MAA expired at the end of 2020 to resolve particular issues related to matters primarily centered on the cost of relocation.
Rogers writes in its Part 1 application, made public on Friday, that the parties have agreed on many terms of the new MAA, including that relocation costs – with some exceptions – should…
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The CRTC in a decision last week denied an April 2023 application from a group of six public interest organizations asking the commission to accelerate the payment of tangible benefits allocated to the Broadcasting Participation Fund (BPF) as part of the CRTC’s March 2022 approval of Rogers’s acquisition of Shaw’s broadcasting assets.
The group behind the application included the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, the Forum for Research and Policy in Communications, the Consumers’ Association of Canada (Manitoba), the Consumers Council of Canada, Option Consommateurs, and the Union des Consommateurs.
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