Rogers said Wednesday that it has received all sports league approvals to buy Bell’s 37.5 per cent stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE).
The cable giant got approvals from the NHL, NBA, CFL, MLS, and the American Hockey League (AHL) to become 75 per cent owners — which it values at $15 billion — in the sports empire.
The company now requires CRTC approval “to acquire an additional indirect interest in Toronto Raptors Network Ltd (NBA TV Canada), representing a very small portion of the transaction,” it said in a press release.
“We’re pleased to have league…
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Rogers Communications announced Tuesday it has started to deploy Ericsson 5G Advanced technology on its national network, calling it “a first for a Canadian operator.”
“5G Advanced will help unlock the full potential of 5G for businesses and consumers,” Mark Kennedy, chief technology officer of Rogers, said in a press release. “We continue to invest in Canada’s largest 5G network and are proud to be the first in Canada to bring 5G Advanced technology to our customers.”
Rogers said it is rolling out Ericsson’s 5G Advanced RedCap software to power next-generation Internet of…
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As the one-year anniversary approaches for Rogers’s licensing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for the rights to the HGTV and Food Network brands and English-language U.S. content, Rogers Sports and Media announced Monday it has greenlit 11 new Canadian original series — representing more than 115 hours of programming — for the Canadian versions of the lifestyle channels.
“We are proud to collaborate with an incredible group of Canadian production partners and personalities to bring nearly 120 hours of original unscripted programming with both big household names and new voices,” Kale Stockwell,…
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Canada’s telecommunications sector contributed $87.3 billion in direct GDP and supported 661,000 jobs across industries in 2024, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report (PwC) released Tuesday morning.
The report, Enabling Canada’s Economic Independence and Global Competitiveness Through Telecommunications, was commissioned by the Canadian Telecommunications Association (CTA), which represents carriers, equipment manufacturers and other companies that build, maintain and operate telecom networks in Canada, including Bell, Rogers, Videotron, SaskTel, Eastlink, Tbaytel, Xplore, Ericsson Canada and Nokia Canada.
The $87.3 billion in GDP contributed by Canada’s telecom sector includes $30.1 billion in immediate direct…
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The parties are currently engaged in a carriage dispute
By Ahmad Hathout
Corus is suing Telus in the Ontario Superior Court for allegedly breaking its distribution agreement by withholding and refusing to repay roughly $2.5 million in service fees.
Corus filed the claim this week revealing the parties are currently engaged in a dispute over the terms for carrying Corus’s services, which Telus continues to distribute per a regulatory standstill.
Crucially, the existing agreement, which continues to govern the parties during the dispute, includes a section that stipulates that Telus “shall not deduct or set-off any amounts for any reason from Service Fees…
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Quebecor said it welcomes the decision
By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that the CRTC did not err when it chose Quebecor’s rate to access Rogers’s wireless facilities as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) during final offer arbitration (FOA).
The court rejected all three arguments the cable giant put forth for why it believed the regulator erred when it chose the lower rate, which it argued was unjust and unreasonable per the Telecommunications Act.
Rogers argued that the CRTC erred by ruling in July 2023 that just and reasonable rates can “include rates that may…
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By Connie Thiessen
Alan Dark, chief revenue officer at Rogers Sports and Media, is exiting the company, confirmed a source to Broadcast Dialogue, Cartt’s sister publication.
He’ll remain with the company until the end of June.
Dark joined Rogers in 2014 as vice president of national sales, media, moving into the role of senior vice president, sales of Rogers Sports and Media sales division within seven months. He’d been senior vice president of revenue since 2020.
Prior to Rogers, Dark held sales, marketing and revenue roles with CBC, Bell Media, and CanWest MediaWorks.
Dark’s departure announcement comes just ahead of Rogers Sports and Media…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Pushing back against the assertion that the public broadcaster should take up the mantle of at-risk programs where private broadcasters have struggled, CBC’s executive vice president said this must be a whole-of-system effort.
“We feel that we should not be seen as a gap filler for the problems of the other broadcasters – that where market forces don’t come easily to their decisions about programming – it shouldn’t just be assumed not to worry about it, the CBC will do it,” Barbara Williams told the five-member CRTC panel on the second-last day of its hearing into the definition…
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Access Canada in partnership with The Hollywood Reporter announced Monday the advisory board for the inaugural Access Canada Summit, which is scheduled to take place Sept. 8-10 at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto, coinciding with the Toronto International Film Festival.
The advisory board members include:
Mark Bishop, co-president of Blue Ant Studios
Allison Brough, senior vice president of unscripted television at Blink49 Studios
Vanessa Case, vice president of content for Paramount+ and Pluto TV in Canada
Mike Cosentino, president and executive producer of CosMedia.Inc
Jocelyn Hamilton, president of television for…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers executives said Friday they feared the CRTC would come out of its hearings on the modernization of the Broadcasting Act emboldened to try to regulate some of the issues it has identified during its current proceeding instead of loosening the regulatory grip it has had on traditional broadcasters.
“We can’t rely on the traditional tools anymore,” said Dean Shaikh, the company’s senior vice president of regulatory affairs. “We no longer have a closed system. We’re competing against massive online streaming giants that have no rules. We need much more flexibility to compete for audiences, subscribers, advertising dollars…
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