Rogers focuses on mobile commerce and video, M2M, as TV declines

Rogers Communications Inc. will focus its growth on mobile commerce, mobile video and machine-to-machine communication devices over the next two years, Nadir Mohamed, president and CEO of the company, said Tuesday.

At the Global Media and Communications Conference, webcast online and hosted by UBS in New York, Mohamed said mobile commerce presents a “big” opportunity for companies to reinforce the value of their wireless connections.

Hearing for Competition Bureau-Chatr case moved to March

The Ontario Superior Court moved to March a hearing on the Competition Bureau's lawsuit against Rogers Communications Inc. for alleged "misleading advertising" related to its discount Chatr wireless brand.

One person with knowledge of the case told The Wire Report the final stretch of the trial hearings, taking place in Toronto, should take about four weeks to complete. The hearing was scheduled to restart Nov. 5, 2012, but that has now been moved to March 18, 2013, due to scheduling issues.

Rogers to conduct in-home bandwidth testing

Rogers Communications Inc. is partnering with U.K. technology firm SamKnows Ltd. to measure the performance of its broadband connections from inside subscribers’ homes.

In a release Wednesday, Rogers said it will place a SamKnows “Whitebox” inside subscribers’ homes to measure customers’ broadband speeds. The boxes, which will be plugged in to customers’ Internet connections, will measure upload and download speeds,“as well as other key performance indicators such as latency,” the release said.

Rogers addresses non-compliance issues for G4TechTV

Rogers Communications Inc. has taken steps to resolve issues of non-compliance with its licence for specialty channel G4TechTV, the CRTC said Tuesday.

Small ISPs file complaint over Rogers pricing for faster wholesale Internet

The CRTC is expediting a complaint from the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC) that said Rogers Communications Inc. broke commission rules by raising the price for faster wholesale Internet services without a corresponding price hike for its retail customers.

Citytv cannot become national without Montreal anglophone market, Rogers tells CRTC

GATINEAU, Que.—Rogers Communications Inc.'s $10.3 million acquisition of Montreal ethnic TV station CJNT-DT and its conversion to an English-language station is necessary to the company's plan to grow its Citytv stations into Canada's third national broadcasting network, the company said.

Shaw, Rogers, focus on sustaining overall wireline customers

Canada's largest two cable companies are trying to offset subscriber losses in their television segments by cutting costs and focusing on growing their Internet customers, the companies and analysts said.

Shaw Communications Inc., in its fourth-quarter results, reported higher revenues and profits as it lost a net 70,703 cable TV subscribers in the 2012 fiscal year, nearly 20,000 more than its net loss of 50,988 in 2011. Shaw on Thursday reported its 2012 year-end results for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, 2012.

Score shareholders approve Rogers’ takeover bid

Score Media Inc.’s shareholders voted to approve Rogers Media Inc.’s $167 million bid to acquire the company, the Score said Monday.

CRTC denies Rogers request for rebroadcasting amendment

Tomik leaves CBC revenue group for Rogers

Jack Tomik, general manager of CBC/Radio-Canada's revenue group, is leaving the public broadcaster for a new position at Rogers Communications Inc., the broadcasters said Wednesday.

Tomik's departure from CBC is effective immediately, a CBC release said. Alan Dark, a sales and marketing executive who has been with CBC since January 2010, will fill Tomik's position.

Quebec OTA profit margins highest in the country: Rogers

Profit margins for private, conventional television broadcasters are higher in Quebec than anywhere else in the country, a study commissioned by Rogers Communications Inc. said.

Competition Bureau suing Big Three over premium text messaging advertisements

The federal Competition Bureau is suing Canada’s three largest wireless carriers for more than $30 million over what it calls “misleading advertising” relating to “premium” text messaging costs.

Screens, not scale, key to competing with OTT providers, Rogers says

Consumer-friendly content distribution platforms are more important than scale to Canadian broadcasters and broadcast distributors competing against large, over-the-top (OTT) service providers like Netflix, Ken Engelhart, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Rogers Communications Inc., said Wednesday.

Rogers applies to change G4Tech licence conditions

Rogers Communications Inc. has applied to convert its G4TechTV specialty station from a Category A station to a Category B station.

In an Aug. 30 application that was posted on the CRTC’s website Thursday, Rogers said G4, a technology-oriented “niche” station, was no longer capable of adhering to the programming restrictions and Canadian programming expenditure requirements demanded of a Category A service.

Rogers to leverage the Score for advertising, Pelley says

Rogers Communications Inc. will leverage the Score Television Network to deliver more sports programming on multiple platforms and seeks to sell advertising geared to younger Canadian sports viewers, said Keith Pelley, president of Rogers Media.

In a release Saturday morning, Rogers said it reached a $167 million agreement to purchase Score Media Inc., gaining control of the Score specialty channel and its “related television assets.”

CRTC clears MLSE deal, orders increased benefits to sports programming

The CRTC has ordered BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. to spend $7.5 million over the next seven years to help finance independent sports-related programming, nearly doubling the value of tangible benefits the two companies proposed in their $1.32 billion acquisition of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE).

CBC, Rogers team up on FIFA World Cup coverage

CBC/Radio-Canada and Rogers Communications Inc.-owned Sportsnet have put their assets together across all platforms to provide coverage for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, CBC said Tuesday.

In an announcement on CBC Sports, the public broadcaster said the new sub-licensing agreement will provide “an unprecedented level of coverage of international soccer events including the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.”

Broadcasters partner in digital ad exchange to take on Facebook, Google

A new real-time, online advertising bidding service allows Canadian broadcasters to offer unsold display space, receive bids and display the ads in a process that takes about 100 milliseconds, said CBC/Radio-Canada, a partner in the service.

Rogers says judge can ‘light a match’ to Competition Bureau case

TORONTO—Rogers Communications Inc. conducted industry standard tests to support its “fewer dropped calls” advertisements in 2010 that proved the ads to be true and now provide a basis to “light a match” to the Competition Bureau’s $10-million case against the company for misleading advertising, a lawyer for Rogers said at a court hearing Thursday.

Competition Bureau, Rogers, open arguments in $10M ‘misleading advertising’ case

TORONTO—The Competition Bureau and Rogers Communications Inc. started opening arguments Wednesday in a $10-million lawsuit against the telco at the Ontario Superior Court.

The federal Competition Bureau in 2010 launched a lawsuit against Rogers seeking a $10-million fine for “misleading advertising” that ran in the summer and fall of 2010, in which Rogers’ discount brand Chatr advertised that it had “fewer dropped calls” than new wireless entrants.

Rogers says radio station websites most viewed

The online websites of radio stations owned by Rogers Communications Inc. attracted more visits and more unique visitors than a comparable fleet of Canadian radio station websites in the first two quarters of 2012, Rogers said Thursday.

Rogers provided data compiled by comScore Inc. that showed Rogers’ 55 radio station websites averaged 1.3 million unique visitors per month during the first three months of 2012 and 1.25 million per month between April and June.

Fido to offer LTE service

Rogers Communications Inc. will make its fourth-generation LTE network available to subscribers of its discount Fido brand this summer, the company said Thursday.

In a release, Fido said subscribers can access the LTE network in and around major Canadian markets starting this summer, including in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and St. John's.

Rogers appoints new VP of digital sales

Rogers Media Inc. appointed Jennifer Holgate to the position of vice-president digital sales and operations, parent company Rogers Communications Inc. said Tuesday.

In a release, Rogers said Holgate will join the company on Sept. 4, 2012.

She will be responsible for direct and integrated sales across the company’s premium and exclusive brands, Rogers said. Holgate will also be responsible for the company’s advertising network business.

Bell, Rogers, propose changes to Cancon overspending rules

BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. propose to remove the CRTC's restrictions on how much Canadian content overspending can be carried over from one year to the next, the commission said Friday.

Telus-Bell spectrum sharing unfair, leads to larger, superior 700 MHz blocks: Rogers

Telus Corp. and BCE Inc.'s spectrum sharing agreement will allow the companies to combine their 700 MHz spectrum licensed in next year's auction and build superior 20 MHz blocks supporting fourth-generation wireless technologies, leaving Rogers Communications Inc. and other carriers at a competitive disadvantage, Rogers said in comments filed with the department.

Rogers, York region dispute escalates on costs of burying cable

A regulatory dispute between Rogers Communications Inc. and the Regional Municipality of York escalated as the municipality asked the CRTC to schedule an oral hearing to decide who should cover the costs of burying Rogers’ cables to accommodate a regional transit project.

Rogers cutting 375 positions

Rogers Communications Inc. is cutting 375 positions, company spokeswoman Patricia Trott said.

Trott said in an emailed statement to The Wire Report Tuesday that this was a “very difficult decision” for Rogers to make. She said the move is part of a comprehensive cost management strategy the company announced earlier this year.

Rogers to probably trial network PVR service under revamped copyright regime

Rogers Communications Inc. will probably conduct a “small trial” of network personal video recorder (PVR) services to test the new copyright regime if there are no amendments to clarify Bill C-11's approach to the services, Ken Engelhart, Rogers’ senior vice-president of regulatory affairs, said at a Senate committee meeting Tuesday.

MLSE deal gives Bell, Rogers, unfair leverage to hike carriage rates, independents say

A joint bid by BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. to purchase a controlling stake in Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) will give the two companies unfair leverage to hike their sports channels' carriage fees, independent broadcast distributors said in documents filed with the CRTC this week.

TV app development a new opportunity for media companies: Report

Canadian digital media companies tend to be small and face problems finding private-sector financing, but new opportunities like TV app development continue to arise, new consultants’ reports released by the Canada Media Fund said.

Wind targets business market with aim to become new national carrier

Wind Mobile is preparing to court Canadian businesses as it moves into the next phase of its push to become a fourth national wireless carrier, Anthony Lacavera, Wind’s chairman and CEO, told The Wire Report this week.

U.S. broadcasters lobbying CRTC on signal regime

Four U.S. broadcasters have hired an Ottawa firm to lobby the CRTC on its distant signals regime as Canada's Supreme Court considers a decision that could impact the system.

Canada makes gains on switch to IPv6, still far from goal

OTTAWA—Canada saw a nearly 500 per cent increase in the number of IPv6-accessible websites in the week leading up to IPv6 launch day June 6 but still has a long way to go, Jacques Latour, director of information technology at the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), said at an international communications conference in Ottawa Thursday.

Tower siting regulations must change to alleviate local political pressure, builder says

Canada’s cellphone tower siting regulations make communities believe they have the power to decide where a tower can be built even if those powers reside exclusively with the federal government, said Edward Hachey, vice president of tower operator SBA Canada.

Companies, groups, to watch Blais in early days for indications of regulatory approach

Broadcasters and telecom providers will watch upcoming CRTC decisions for any indications of what direction its new chair will take towards industry regulation, industry insiders told The Wire Report on Monday.

Revenues up, profits down at large broadcasters’ specialty channels

Canada’s six largest private broadcasters' specialty channel revenues collectively rose by $193.8 million in 2011, or 8.53 per cent, as pre-tax profits fell by $40 million, an analysis of aggregated CRTC data shows.

Bell, Rogers to broadcast 5,500 hours of Olympic coverage

BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. will provide Canadian viewers with more than 5,500 hours of Olympic coverage during the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London this summer, Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium said in a release last Friday.

Telus, MTS so far met 30-60% of rural broadband obligations, Bell lagging, Katz says

TORONTO—MTS Allstream Inc. and Telus Corp. are leading in the rollout of broadband for remote communities under a 2010 CRTC directive while BCE Inc. subsidiaries Bell Canada and Bell Aliant are falling behind, Len Katz, acting chair of the CRTC, told The Wire Report Tuesday at the 2012 Canadian Telecom Summit.

Rogers seeks CRTC ruling in dispute over buried cable with York region

Rogers Communications Inc. has asked the CRTC to order a Toronto regional municipality to cover the company’s costs of burying cables as a part of a “beautification” program.

Rogers hoping to improve national ad sales with SCN purchase

Rogers Communications Inc. is hoping its acquisition of the Saskatchewan Communications Network (SCN) will help increase national advertising revenues across its Citytv network, Rogers Media president Keith Pelley said at a CRTC hearing Monday.

Costly push to IPTV to put Rogers at ‘forefront’ of cable industry, analysts say

Rogers Communications Inc.'s plan to convert its cable TV services to Internet protocol TV (IPTV) will be costly but will pay off and put the company at the “forefront” of the industry, analysts say.

Telus tops TV subscriber growth in 2011; Shaw, Rogers, lose subs

Telus Communications Co. added 194,802 TV subscribers during 2011, the most of all the major Canadian TV distributors, according to a year-end analysis of TV subscriber numbers by The Wire Report.