Tag: rogers

The hearing into Rogers buying out Shaw saw its last full day of interveners, who called on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to ensure the deal isn’t approved as originally presented.

Representatives from Unifor said the commission should consider the impacts on employment and local news of this merger, saying it could lead to a loss of funding for various local news channels in Western Canada.

This includes millions of dollars Shaw directs towards Corus through a federal rule mandating broadcaster distributors to direct five percent of revenue towards local content.

“The loss of $13 million in funding for local news provided by Corus television stations could be disastrous,” Katha Fortier, assistant to Unifor’s national president, said on the fourth day of the hearing.

Rogers said it will divert the funds towards CityTV, a channel it runs, through creating programs for Western Canada, competing with larger companies like Bell.

Like many interveners before, Fortier said Corus would likely have to turn to the Independent Local News Fund (ILNF), an initiative created by CRTC in 2016 to support local news by private stations. Doing so would take funds away from smaller independent organizations that rely on this fund to air content in smaller communities.

That’s exactly what representatives from Miracle Channel Association (MCA) said they would suffer from. The company licenses and operates CJIL-DT, a television station serving Lethbridge and Southern Alberta.

“There aren’t enough bandaids in the box to stop the bleeding that’s going to result.” – Robert Malcolmson, executive vice president at Bell Canada

Jeff Thiessen, MCA’s vice president, said the organization is concerned about the future of independent services. If they can’t get funding through the ILNF, they’ll have to shut down.

“That would basically show that our concern, the nightmare that would wake us up at the middle of the night, would have actually happened and the small market fund will have disappeared and be given to the largest markets,” he said.

Representatives from Unifor said local news funding provisions are there to support smaller markets so communities have access to a variety of voices focusing on local issues.

“It’s not just about how much money is in the broadcast system overall, but about how and where the money is spent, and on what,” Fortier said.

Interveners have pointed out Rogers would receive the most financial success out of this deal.

Representatives from the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) said Rogers’ current tangible benefits package is worth $5.7 million. In comparison, shareholders at Rogers will see their value increase by $1 billion every year because of the merger. “The public will only receive a couple of hours’ worth of new television programs — once,” Reynolds Mastin, CMPA’s president and CEO, said.

To right this wrong, the benefits have to be increased to offer value to the public. The way things stand, Rogers is the only one receiving value. “This inconsequential contribution will not yield any measurable improvements to the Canadian broadcasting system as a whole,” he said.

Unifor representatives also raised concerns about employment numbers, pointing to a shrinking workforce in the broadcasting realm. Randy Kitt, the organization’s director in the media sector, said mergers only make things worse because typically finances and staffing are moved away from smaller local markets to large urban centers.

“Unifor, therefore, asks that should the commission approve this sale, Rogers is mandated to continue funding for the Corus stations, until such time as a hearing can be concluded to ensure that ILNF or other such equal funds can be in place to support the need of these Canadian communities,” Kitt said.

Bell’s stance

Representatives from Bell were also present, and like Telus, asked the CRTC to reject the acquisition.

“While Rogers would have you believe there is nothing to see here, this application goes well beyond the narrow issue of one cable company stepping into the shoes of another,” Robert Malcolmson, executive vice president at Bell Canada, said.

If the merger is approved, Rogers will become a gatekeeper, and dominate the English-language market, he said. They’ll effectively be able to decide what is carried because the company will have all the power. Currently, Bell and Shaw each have 27 percent of the English language market share, and Rogers 20 percent.

Bell was in the same shoes as Rogers back in 2012 when the company came to the CRTC to acquire Astral. The request was originally denied because the CRTC didn’t see how the merger would provide “significant and unequivocal” benefits to the broadcasting system. It was eventually approved when a second application was filed reviewing the merger.

Stewart Johnston, the senior vice president of sales and sports at Bell, said if the Rogers-Shaw merger is approved, programmers will only survive if they work with Rogers given its larger market share as the reach it has with the audience will ensure advertisers and secure revenue.

“There aren’t enough bandaids in the box to stop the bleeding that’s going to result,” Malcolmson said.

Representatives from Rogers will be present Friday, the last day of the hearing, to answer questions raised throughout the week.

Image credit: CRTC (screenshot)

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) hearing into the Rogers-Shaw merger has reached the halfway point.

Wednesday marked day three of five of the hearing. The day differed from the one previous, as it had speakers in support of the merger, many of them not part of larger media organizations.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S, a social services organization in British Columbia, offers services to help newcomers with settlement, including affordable housing and care for seniors. CEO Queenie Choo stated the merger would be great for the people the organization serves, as it would increase broadcasting services to remote areas.

“This effect is helpful for fostering social connections and enhancing a sense of belonging amongst our members,” she said. “I believe that diversity and inclusion are fundamental values of both our country and S.U.C.C.E.S.S., and that multicultural programming is necessary for helping meet the needs of our diverse communities.”

Kendall Ho, a Vancouver-based emergency physician, said Rogers supports a network he works on called the interCultural Online Health Network. It provides health information in multiple languages so multicultural populations can process data in a way they understand and manage their health. Rogers, through Omni TV, has been a media sponsor. Rogers has also worked through the network to provide ethnic media coverage during COVID.

“I’m here today to provide my full support for Rogers acquisition of Shaw.” – Christine Smith-Martin – Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative (CFN)

The merger also got support from the CFN, made up of nine communities and 20,000 members. It built a partnership with Rogers, which was working to address some calls for action as part of the reconciliation process. This includes its work to address the digital divide that exists in Indigenous communities by creating a $1 million fund allocated towards Indigenous content.

“I’m here today to provide my full support for Rogers acquisition of Shaw,” Christine Smith-Martin, CFN’s executive director, said.

But it wasn’t all positive. In contrast, concerns were raised on how ethnic media channels will be supported if the merger is approved. Representatives from TLN media group and Ethnic Channels Group (ECG) say Rogers doesn’t plan on extending protection for continued carriage, revenue stability, or consumer packaging available to independent ethnic services in the country.

“Canada is a multicultural society, and it is important that our broadcasting system not only continues to reflect that diversity but also protects and enhances it,” Aldo Di Felice, president of TLN, said.

He went on to say more than 20 percent of the population, roughly 8 million people, prefer not to speak English or French at home, a number that will grow as immigration numbers continue to rise.

Slava Levin, ECG’s CEO, said ethnic TV relies on distribution from BDUs (broadcast distribution undertakings), or television providers. The success of Rogers and Shaw is essential to the success of ECG, Levin said. They need the “carriage” of large BDUs, including Rogers, but they fear they’ll have no room for their own rules.

“Assuming this merger is approved, it would be impossible to develop a viable business plan to operate a domestic Canadian ethnic television service without carriage on the combined RogersShaw. This is what keeps us up at night. Without the necessary safeguards in place, there is no assurance that our services – or those of other ethnic television channel operators – will continue to be available on terms which allow us to survive.”

A joint presentation from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the National Pensioners Federation (NPF) said the current deal needs changes to keep the best interests of senior customers in mind.

The panel said Rogers plans on moving cable-only and satellite TV subscribers to its IPTV service. This costs more, a problem for many seniors on fixed incomes. Representatives said the merger shouldn’t be approved unless Rogers makes changes. If approved, they want protections, including an amendment to protect affordability by offering Shaw customers who use TV packages a three-year price freeze when they’re forced to move to IPTV.

Blue Ant Media, the owner of MobileSyrup, has raised concerns about the dominance Rogers will have in the broadcast market if the merger is approved, but will not present at the hearing.

The CRTC is specifically dealing with the broadcast aspect of this deal. Telephone, wireless, and internet services will be dealt with by the Competition Bureau and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Neither of those hearings will be open to the public.

Image source: CRTC (screenshot)