Stroumboulopoulos to centre Rogers’ NHL ‘dream team’

Rogers Communications Inc. on Monday named George Stroumboulopoulos as the next host of Hockey Night in Canada, which Rogers takes over production of next season.

Stroumboulopoulos, currently host of CBC/Radio-Canada’s George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, is taking over the role held right now by Ron MacLean, who will continue hosting Coach’s Corner, along with Don Cherry, during the Saturday night broadcasts, Rogers said in a press release. MacLean is also slated to host the new Hometown Hockey Community Celebration on Sunday nights.

CBC at ‘forefront’ of digital media: CRTC’s Hutton

OTTAWA — CBC/Radio-Canada has been at the vanguard of changes the broadcasting industry has faced due to the emergence of digital media in recent years, Scott Hutton, the CRTC’s executive director of broadcasting, told a Senate committee on Wednesday night.

‘Undesirable’ spectrum now key to Rogers mobile-video plans

Rogers Communications Inc. shelled out billions in this year’s 700 MHz spectrum auction for what was once “second-class” spectrum and what could now be the most coveted wireless real estate in the country, according to Nordicity analyst Stephan Meyer.

Rogers spent $3.2 billion in the auction, the majority of which went to snapping up 20-year licences for contiguous A and B paired blocks of 700 MHz spectrum in every major wireless market in the country.

CTV averages 6.12M viewers for Oscars

The Canadian broadcast of the Academy Awards Sunday night attracted an average of 6.12 million television viewers, said BCE Inc.’s CTV network, which had the broadcast rights to the awards show.

In a press release put out Monday, CTV said it was the most watched entertainment show since the 2011 Oscars, and that a total of 14 million people tuned into at least part of this year’s awards show. 

Disney signs first major OTT deal with Dish Network

Dish Network Corp. announced a deal with Walt Disney Co. that will bring content from some of the most popular channels in United States, including worldwide sports leader ESPN, to over-the-top streaming services for the first time.

CBC chief asks for support, flexibility from government

OTTAWA — The CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada told a Senate committee Wednesday night that he has never asked for “one dollar more” of public money but that the public broadcaster needs government support.

Hubert Lacroix told members of the Senate’s transport and communications committee, in a hearing dealing with challenges faced by the CBC, about some of the pitfalls the public broadcaster is facing, such as cuts to government funding and the loss of broadcasting rights to NHL hockey as of next season.

CBC says 15M tuned into men’s gold medal hockey game

About 15 million people in Canada tuned in to at least part of the Olympic men’s hockey gold medal game on Sunday, which had an average audience of 8.5 million throughout the contest, CBC/Radio-Canada said.

In a press release issued Monday, CBC said the audience for the game, which saw Canada triumph over Sweden, peaked at 12 million at around 9:19 a.m. ET as the game came to a close.

CBC said the gold medal game captured 90 per cent of Canada’s English-viewing audience while it aired between 7:10 and 9:19 a.m. ET. 

Rogers putting Gord Cutler in charge of NHL coverage

Rogers Communications Inc. said Thursday that Gord Cutler will become senior vice-president of NHL production, starting next week.

Rogers said Cutler will oversee all on-air production aspects of Sportsnet’s National Hockey League coverage, including national and regional games, all playoff games and the Stanley Cup final.

Hockey broadcast costs cut into Rogers’ profit

Rogers Communications Inc. reported lower fourth-quarter profits on Wednesday, and attributed some of the decline to costs associated with broadcasting more hockey games.

The company reported net income, adjusted for non-recurring items, fell to $357 million from $448 million. That was partially due to “incremental costs associated with broadcasting significantly more hockey games compared to last year,” Rogers said in a press release.

CBC Olympic coverage to hit YouTube

CBC/Radio-Canada said Thursday it reached licensing agreements for coverage of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games with Quebecor Inc. subsidiary Videotron Ltd., Telus Corp., Google Inc. and the Canadian Cable Systems Alliance.

Rogers releases NHL content plans

Rogers Communications Inc. said it will be keeping the Hockey Night in Canada brand alive on Saturday nights, and using 13 different channels to broadcast up to seven different games on those evenings.

Super Bowl attracted 8 million viewers: BCE

This year’s Super Bowl attracted an average audience of eight million people in Canada, making it the second-most watched Super Bowl ever in the country, BCE Inc. said Monday.

The company said in a release, citing data from BBM Canada, that viewership was split between its CTV network and its French-language sports channel RDS at 7.3 million and 610,000, respectively.

TSN gains additional Major League Baseball rights

BCE Inc.’s TSN said Monday it has secured the Canadian rights for national coverage of Major League Baseball games for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights in a deal that will last until 2021.

The specialty sports broadcaster said the new deal would triple its current volume of coverage to more than 75 games a year. It noted in a press release that it already had rights to ESPN’s Sunday night MLB games, and has now added the Walt Disney Co.-owned broadcaster’s Monday and Wednesday baseball programming.

Bell Media reaches 12-year deal with Ottawa Senators

BCE Inc.’s media subsidiary reached a 12-year regional broadcast rights deal with the Ottawa Senators, the company said in a release Wednesday.

Under the deal, Bell’s TSN and RDS channels will be the hockey team’s official broadcasters starting next season through the 2025-2026 season.

That includes English-language regional television broadcast rights for TSN, with a minimum of 52 regular season and pre-season games, and French-language regional broadcast rights for RDS, with a minimum of 40 games, according to the release.

Substitution Sunday: Missing Super Bowl commercials just part of the issue

If one academic had his way, you would have no problem watching the latest wacky and titillating commercials from the United States during the Super Bowl this Sunday.

Not that this is the main reason Michael Geist, Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, has proposed doing away with simultaneous substitution. Rather, it’s that he feels it’s an outdated policy.

More than 40% of Telus TV subs don’t get sports channels: Gossling

Less than 60 per cent of Telus Corp.’s Optik TV customers subscribe to a sports specialty channel, the company’s chief financial officer said.

“If I ask people in the hall, ‘What do you think sports’ take-rate is?’ they’d probably say 90 per cent,” John Gossling, Telus’ chief financial officer, said Friday at a CIBC investor conference in Whistler, B.C.

“Well it’s actually lower than 60 [per cent],” he said.

Scott Moore to head Sportsnet and NHL at Rogers

Scott Moore has been appointed president of Sportsnet and NHL at Rogers Communications Inc.'s media division, the company said in a release Thursday.

Rogers said Moore would leverage “the company’s cable, wireless and suite of media assets to deliver world-class hockey and sports experiences to fans across the country.”

Moore was previously president of broadcast at Rogers Media, the release said, adding the appointment is effective immediately.

Rogers renews partnership with MLB

Rogers Communications Inc. said Wednesday it has renewed its long-standing partnership with Major League Baseball, extending its Sportsnet channel's multi-platform broadcasting rights to hundreds of games a year for the next eight seasons and extending its exclusive Canadian right to sell the MLB Network through Rogers’ digital-television service.

RDS reaches 12-year deal with Montreal Canadiens

BCE Inc.’s RDS French-language sports channel announced a 12-year regional broadcast deal with the Montreal Canadiens that it says makes it the team’s official broadcaster through to the 2025-26 season.

RDS said it includes rights to 60 regular season games each season, in addition to some pre-season games, in the designated broadcast region. RDS spokeswoman Renee Rouse said in a telephone interview that region consists of Quebec, the Atlantic provinces and eastern Ontario.

BeIN Sport to launch in Canada

BeIN Sport, a sports specialty television network owned by Qatari Sports Investments, which is affiliated with the Qatari-government owned Al Jazeera Media Network, has partnered with the Ethnic Channels Group Ltd. to launch in Canada, the companies said in a release Wednesday.

BeIN Sport, which launched in France and the United States in the summer of 2012, has the exclusive Canadian broadcast rights to cover the Spanish and Italian soccer leagues, La Liga and Serie A, respectively.

TSN, RDS retain rights to ESPN sports content

BCE Inc. said Tuesday it has renewed a multi-year agreement to get exclusive Canadian rights to content from U.S. sports broadcaster ESPN for its sports channels, TSN and RDS.

The companies said in a release that the content secured includes U.S. college football, NCAA basketball, the Australian Open tennis championship and ESPN’s football news programming.

The deal also extends to radio programming for Bell Media Radio stations, and content for TSN’s and RDS’ digital platforms.

Regulators could react to Rogers/NHL deal: Moody’s

Moody’s Investors Services said Thursday that Canadian regulators could "respond" to Rogers Communications Inc.’s recent $5.2-billion, 12-year broadcasting deal with the National Hockey League.

In a report, Moody’s said “it is not clear how Rogers plans to distribute and monetize NHL content.” Given this uncertainty, it said if consumers are adversely affected, “regulators will respond.”

The Canadian effort behind Olympic network build

OTTAWA — The ease with which athletes, coaches, journalists, officials and volunteers at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, are able to communicate, surf the Internet and watch events beyond their immediate locations will depend largely on a guy working in the west end of Ottawa.

Avaya Inc. is the official network supplier of the Games this winter.  Avaya is based in Santa Clara, Calif., though its chief architect for the Sochi Games, Dean Frohwerk, works at Avaya’s office in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata.

Leafs withhold vote for Rogers/NHL deal: Star

The Toronto Maple Leafs franchise was the one National Hockey League club not to vote in favour of the 12-year, $5.2-billion broadcast and digital-rights agreement between the league and Rogers Communications Inc., the Toronto Star reported.

Bell Media, NFL expand agreement on football coverage

BCE Inc.’s Bell Media division on Monday said it has expanded an existing agreement to provide coverage of the National Football League in Canada.

Bell Media said in a release the new deal adds to an existing arrangement that gives TSN access to NFL football games on Sunday and Monday nights.  The company said that, as of next fall, it will have rights to Sunday games at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on both CTV and TSN channels.

It will also have the Canadian rights to all playoff games and the Super Bowl, Bell Media said.

Future viewer habits to determine length of CBC hockey partnership: Rogers

Technological developments that impact the way consumers watch broadcast content will help determine whether CBC/Radio-Canada will continue to air NHL hockey games five years from now, said Scott Moore, president of broadcasting at Rogers Communications Inc.’s media subsidiary.

NHL deal to help Rogers in pick-and-pay regime: analysts

Rogers Communications Inc.’s new 12-year deal for the broadcast and multi-platform rights to National Hockey League games is a $5.2-billion bet that Canadians will pay to maintain access to NHL games if they’re forced to choose between costly sports specialty channels in a future pick-and-pay environment, industry analysts said.

NDP proposes ban on some sports blackouts

The NDP introduced a private members bill that would ban TV blackouts for some live sports events.

MP Glenn Thibeault introduced in the House of Commons Tuesday Bill C-552, which would ban blackouts for live sports events taking place in venues “constructed with the help of public financing."

Competition issues likely holding up beIN Sport, analysts say

For a channel that has exclusive Canadian broadcast rights to big-ticket international sports events, beIN Sport doesn’t have the greatest track record in this country.

The channel, a sports specialty television network owned by Qatari Sports Investments—which is affiliated with the Qatari-government owned Al Jazeera Media Network—isn’t available anywhere on television in Canada, and competition from existing sports channels may have something to do with it, broadcasting analysts said. 

CBC negotiating for Hockey Night in Canada rights

CBC/Radio-Canada is in “ongoing” negotiations with the National Hockey League (NHL) to renew its Hockey Night in Canada broadcasting rights, which are scheduled to expire in June.

“We’ve been negotiating with the NHL,” Hubert Lacroix, CBC’s president and CEO, said at the public broadcaster’s annual public meeting in Toronto on Wednesday.

“Conversations are ongoing and we hope to hear in the near future of how they will conclude,” he said.

Want pick-and-pay? You may end up paying $9 for TSN, consultant says

If TV subscribers are about to receive individual channels on a pick-and-pay basis, as the Conservative government says it will mandate, they may be surprised at the standalone pricing for some of their favourite channels.

Broadcast consultant and former CRTC commissioner Michel Arpin said that for an idea of the cost of individual channels with high-value programming like sports or movies, observers may want to look at current standalone pricing for pay channels like The Movie Network (owned by BCE Inc. division Bell Media).

Bell partners with NBA

BCE Inc. entered a “multi-year strategic partnership” with the National Basketball Association (NBA), the company said.

In a release Wednesday, Bell said the deal will allow its customers to watch “new weekly NBA content on their smartphones and tablets” throughout the league’s regular season and playoffs.

It will also make “new nightly NBA highlights” available on its mobile TV service, the company said.

Providers exploring the business opportunities of in-stadium WiFi, team apps

When fans of Sporting Kansas City are watching a live game at the team’s 18,467-capacity stadium and miss a kick, play, or goal on the soccer pitch, they can catch up by pulling out their smartphones and choose from which angle they want to see a replay.

The Major League Soccer team’s smartphone app, called Uphoria and which can be connected by free, in-stadium WiFi, also allows fans to get directions to and from the stadium, find out where the closest ATM or washroom is, and get news and stats for the team’s matches, among other functions.

A la carte would drop U.S. TV revenues almost 50%: analyst

The American television industry's annual revenues of $150 billion US would be cut nearly in half if broadcast distributors moved to an a la carte model, said a report by research firm Needham & Company.

Laura Martin, an Internet, entertainment and consumer analyst with Needham & Company, said in a July 11 report that a move to unbundled, or a la carte, TV services would cost the industry $70 billion US in annual revenues as advertising dried up and subscriptions for less popular channels fell.

TVA to air CBC Olympic programming

Quebecor Media Inc.’s French-language specialty channel TVA Sports has reached a deal to broadcast portions of CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

In a release Thursday, CBC said the agreement will allow TVA Sports to broadcast portions of CBC-produced programming in French during the 2014 Olympics. It did not say which events or programs TVA Sports would be permitted to broadcast under the deal.

The Score, FIBA reach coverage deal

Rogers Communications Inc.’s The Score specialty sports channel reached a two-year deal with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) for the multiplatform rights to eight international basketball events, Rogers said.

In a release Thursday, The Score said it secured the television, online and mobile distribution rights to major FIBA events through 2014, including the 2013 Americas Championship, the 2013 U19 World Championship, the 2014 Basketball World Cup and the 2014 U17 Basketball World Cup.

NHL playoffs may generate higher revenues, analyst says

Higher NHL audience ratings resulting from a shortened NHL season could lead broadcasters to generate better advertising revenues during the NHL playoffs this spring despite viewers’ lingering negative perceptions about the league, said Gord Hendren, president of Charlton Strategic Research Inc.

CBC broadens Olympics coverage with Bell, Rogers licensing

CBC/Radio-Canada reached licensing arrangements to share coverage of the 2014 Olympic Games with Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc.

CBC said in a release Thursday that it will share coverage with Rogers’ specialty channel Sportsnet and Bell channels TSN and RDS. It said some “exclusive license arrangements” were made for coverage of the Sochi 2014 Olympics though it did not provide further details.

“Stay tuned—more platform distribution announcements to come,” the release said.

Super Bowl ratings in Canada fall 10%

Super Bowl ratings in Canada fell ten per cent year-over-year to an average audience of 7.33 million viewers for Sunday’s game, according to BBM Canada data released by CTV Monday.

In a release, the BCE Inc.-owned broadcaster, which had the exclusive Canadian broadcast rights to the event, said BBM “preliminary overnight data” showed Super Bowl XLVII drew an average of 6.6 million viewers across the CTV network and an average of 763,000 viewers on the Bell-owned RDS specialty service on Sunday.

Record NHL ratings could help broadcasters reclaim lost revenues, experts say

Hockey fans are watching televised NHL games in record numbers following a 113-day lockout, allowing broadcasters to slowly claw back lost revenues, broadcasters and industry experts said.

Jeffrey Orridge, executive director of sports properties at CBC/Radio-Canada, said in a telephone interview that CBC saw a record number of viewers for the three games it aired on the NHL’s much-delayed season opener of its Hockey Night in Canada program on Jan. 19.

Rogers asks CRTC to keep The Score a must offer channel, with lighter licence conditions

Growth in sports news websites has changed the competitive environment for the sports specialty channel genre and created a need for more relaxed regulations on The Score’s licence conditions, Rogers Communications Inc. said in a CRTC application to acquire the sports news specialty channel.

While the company has asked the CRTC for lighter licence conditions, it is also asking the commission to maintain the channel’s “must offer” designation, setting it apart from deregulated, mainstream sports channels like TSN.

Jets’ success supports calls for Quebec NHL team

The Winnipeg Jets’s success after moving from Atlanta in 2011 “buttresses” the case for relocating another NHL franchise to Quebec City, Forbes magazine reported.

MLB Network approved for carriage in Canada

Rogers Communications Inc.’s application to bring MLB Network to Canada was approved, the CRTC said Wednesday.

National sports events should be free on TV: Orridge

Marquee, nation-building sporting events like the Olympics or the PanAm Games should be broadcast free to the public, Jeffrey Orridge, executive director of sports properties at CBC/Radio-Canada, said Tuesday.

In a panel discussion at the Scotiabank Telecom & Cable 2013 Conference in Toronto, Orridge said national, inclusive sports events that draw diverse populations should be available to television viewers for free.

Five in 10 TV viewers watch sports: report

Five in 10 anglophone television viewers consume sports content weekly and four in 10 do not follow sports at all, a new report from the Media Technology Monitor (MTM) said Tuesday.

The MTM report, a product of CBC/Radio-Canada partnered with BBM Analytics, found that 24 per cent of anglophones in Canada over the age of 18 watch sports every day or nearly every day, while 38 per cent do not at all.

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.

CBC braces for lower TV revenues under extended NHL lockout

The delay or potential cancellation of the NHL hockey season would “negatively impact” CBC/Radio-Canada’s advertising revenues as the public broadcaster plans for replacement programming and cost containment, Suzanne Morris, vice-president and chief financial officer at CBC, said at the corporation’s annual meeting in St. John’s, N.L.

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.”

Multi-platform viewing key to Olympic broadcasting success: Hendren

CBC/Radio-Canada should model its coverage of the Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games on the successful multi-platform efforts of this year’s London Summer Olympics, but may still have a hard time turning a profit, Gordon Hendren, president of Charlton Strategic Research Inc., says.

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.”

7.5m Canadians watched Olympic closing ceremony: consortium

The closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games was the “most-watched” Summer Olympics broadcast in Canadian history, Canada’s Olympic Media Broadcast Consortium said Monday.

In a release, consortium partners BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. said last Friday’s closing ceremony attracted an average audience of 7.5 million viewers across the country, including an average 5.1 million viewers on the Bell-owned CTV network.

Mobile devices connecting to Olympics coverage

Sixty-one per cent of the traffic connecting to Canada’s Olympic broadcast consortium’s digital platforms came from mobile devices during the first week of the 2012 London Olympic Games, the consortium said Wednesday.

In a release, the consortium, made up of Rogers Communications Inc.and BCE Inc., said the percentage is “more than five times the average.” Bell has exclusive mobile rights to the Games. 

Competition Bureau investigating Bell Media carriage agreements: court documents

The federal Competition Bureau is investigating whether BCE Inc. is using its stable of “high-demand television” channels to place “anti-competitive” restrictions on competing broadcast distributors, documents filed with the Federal Court show.

CBC still going for Olympics rights, if profitable, broadcaster says

CBC/Radio-Canada will continue to seek the broadcast rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games but will not make a money-losing bid for the sports rights, said Jeffrey Orridge, executive director of CBC sports properties.

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.

Rogers applies to bring MLB Network to Canada

Rogers Communications Inc. has applied to the CRTC to add Major League Baseball’s MLB Network to the list of specialty channels authorized for distribution in Canada. 

Sports leagues to compete directly for online viewers

Online streaming services offered directly by professional sports leagues will increasingly compete for viewers as online and mobile video consumption grows, analysts say.