ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS: How it muscles the competition

  The power that Rogers Communications wields in the Canadian sports media business is truly remarkable.

   We saw an example of it last week when it was announced that TSN was ceding its schedule of 2010 Toronto Blue Jays games to Rogers-owned Sportsnet.

  Why would TSN disrupt its summer programming to accommodate Rogers? Because Rogers asked for the games. And when the biggest, strongest guy on the block asks for something, he usually gets it.

  It should be noted that TSN, for giving up the Jays, received concessions from Rogers, concessions that will help build the TSN2 brand. TSN2 acquired Sunday night baseball games from Rogers, which controls MLB TV rights in Canada, and the 7:30 a.m. Saturday English Premier League game, also from Rogers.

  Make no mistake, TSN and its owner CTVglobemedia are major players in Canadian sports television. But, they can’t match the influence and muscle of Rogers.

  Rogers’s assets, in addition to its telecommunications and wireless business, include the Jays; the four-channel regional service Sportsnet; and Rogers Cable, arguably, the most important cable system in the country, because it controls the rich, heavily populated Toronto market. Rogers also has a close relationship with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns the Maple Leafs and Raptors.

  But the Rogers list of important assets doesn’t end there. You could add the CRTC regulatory body to its group of useful friends. After all, without the help of Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Rogers wouldn’t even be in the TV content business.

  It was the CRTC, in one of its many ill-advised decisions, that ruled in the 1990s that Rogers could operate as both a content provider (owner of a TV network) and a content carrier (cable distributor).

  This represented a clear conflict of interest for Rogers and an invitation for abuse. In the United States, a similar relationship almost a century ago between Hollywood studios and theatre exhibitors resulted in anti-trust legislation. But, for TV, the slogan has been: No regulation is good regulation.

    Consider how Rogers has used its power.

  In 2000, it bought the Jays and not long after acquired the Toronto all-sports radio station Fan590.

   Jays radio rights at the time were owned by Score Media, which had ambitious plans. It wanted to set up a national radio network anchored by baseball and the Jays. The Score Television Network would be a component. It tried, unsuccessfully, to hire Bob McCown away from the Fan to be the lead anchor.

   But these plans ended abruptly when Rogers put on squeeze. Rogers demanded the Score give up its Jays radio rights. The Score capitulated and the Rogers-owned Fan590 and its network of stations started broadcasting the games.

  Fast forward to 2008, when TSN launched TSN2, a worthy addition to television’s sports cable services. The new channel owned rights to Grand Slam tennis, NHL and NBA games and Toronto Raptors games, as well as a few Jays games.

   Every major cable and satellite system in the country started carrying TSN2 almost immediately – except one. Rogers, which owned Sportsnet against which TSN2 would compete for viewers, refused.

   Rogers waited months before finally adding TSN2 to its channel lineup just days before TSN2 was scheduled to air its first game involving Rogers-owned Jays. What a surprise.

  It’s been argued that the delay in Rogers carrying TSN2 was tied to broader negotiations between Rogers Cable and additional CTV cable assets. I don’t know. But on the face of it, this delay appeared to be clear example of Rogers using its cable division to protect its content division.

   Let’s move ahead.

  In 2009, the CBC acquired a license to launch a sports channel to be called CBC SportsPlus. The CBC made plans to launch in 2010, but then put the entire project on an indefinite hold. Why? I’m told it’s because Rogers Cable made it clear it had no interest in carrying the channel. It felt the market was saturated.

   Never mind that Rogers happily makes two U.S. sports channels, CBS College Sports and Big Ten Network, available to its customers. Another Canadian channel (which would compete against Sportsnet) was out of the question.

  Now, we have TSN and TSN2 forced to relinquish their Jays schedules. Only 25 games a season are involved, but TSN loses a major league property and is required to re-juggle its schedule. The reason given for Rogers taking back the Jays games was consistency. All 162 games will be aired on Sportsnet.

   But insiders believe Rogers will air some of the Jays games on a new sports national channel called Sportsnet 2, which it is planning to launch.

  When the new channel starts, the CBC should complain to the CRTC. After all, Rogers apparently refused to consider carrying the CBC’s proposed channel because of market saturation, yet at the same time was planning to start its own national sports service.

   That appears to be an abuse of power, power that was given to Rogers by the CRTC.

Was Willie Mitchell a ranting fool, or a truth teller?

  I’m a little late with this, but I did want to address Willie Mitchell’s sharply worded remarks about the NHL’s senior vice-president in charge of supplementary discipline Colin Campbell.

  Mitchell, still suffering the effects of a concussion caused by a cheap shot from Pittsburgh’s Evegni Malkin in January, called out Campbell last week for failing to do his job.

  That Mitchell would dare to say that Campbell is either negligent or a lackey for the NHL’s hierarchy — or both — was quite remarkable, given that hockey players are generally terrified to utter a peep of disapproval of people in positions of power.

   The media’s response to Mitchell’s statements was not remarkable, but nevertheless instructive.

  On TSN’s The Reporters, the reaction was basically no reaction. On Sportsnet’s Hockey Central radio show, the sentiment seemed to be that Willie, by knocking Campbell, was behaving irrationally.  The analysts repeated the mantra that “Colie” Campbell is a (a) good person and (b) a widely respected veteran, hockey guy, and therefore pretty much beyond reproach.

  The truth is Campbell has failed miserably at his job. More than anyone else in hockey, he is responsible for the epidemic of head shots that has sidelined players for months and caused brain damage that will most certainly have long term effects.

  Yet, the hockey media over the years, with a few exceptions, have side-stepped the subject of Campbell’s incompetence and also his culpability. Why? Because they know him, like him, and he’s a “hockey guy”. How many times did you hear the apologists say that Mike Richards’s hit on Florida’s David Booth was “a good hockey hit.” That it’s just part of the game. That, “we don’t want to take the physicality out of the game.”

  Campbell has done virtually nothing to punish vicious blind side head attacks. He used the excuse there was no NHL rule against them, which of course was ludicrous.

  As Mitchell noted in his remarks, “We’re taught at a young age you don’t hit from behind. I had my numbers facing a player in a dangerous spot and he hit me.

 “More than that, I’m disappointed in the league, disappointed in Campbell, disappointed that he didn’t rule down anything on the play. That’s his job.”

  Campbell took no action against Malkin, Mitchell’s attacker, or to Richards who attacked Booth, sidelining him for almost the full season, or to Matt Cooke who hit Boston’s Marc Savard from behind. All of these victims suffered serious brain injury. You can go down the line. Colby Armstrong’s assault on Trevor Letowski in 2007? A sickening spectacle to be sure, and no suspension. And on and on. Mitchell correctly said that Campbell’s inaction caused  “chaos” in the league.

  There’s only one way Campbell can be excused for his condoning of blind side head attacks. It’s that his strings were being pulled by his superiors – owners, general managers and league officials — who thought that the cheap shots were good for the game, or rather good for selling tickets. In that case, Campbell should have resigned. 

   Some in the hockey media establishment scoffed at Mitchell’s suggestion that Campbell and the NHL be removed from responsibility of handing down supplementary discipline.

   But it’s not a bad idea. Campbell clearly can’t do the job. The league has no credibility on this matter. Perhaps discipline should be handled by an independent panel made up of qualified hockey people appointed by the NHL and NHLPA.

   We’ll see how the new rules work out, but if it’s basically continuation of the present system, with a small change  – instead of zero suspension for a blind-side hit, the perpetrator would get a game or perhaps two – then a change should be made, or else law enforcement should step in and start laying charges.

Strong hockey numbers over the weekend

 Audiences

The CBC’s telecast of Game 1 Montreal Canadiens-Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday was watched by 2.776 million viewers.

  TSN drew 2.1 million for Game 7 of the Philadelphia Flyers-Boston Bruins on Friday. That was TSN’s largest audience ever for a NHL game not involving a Canadian team.

 TSN’s telecast of Game 1 Chicago Blackhawks-San Jose Sharks on Sunday afternoon was watched by 1.225 million. Pre-game show, TSN, 325,000.

 Rogers Sportsnet started its Memorial Cup coverage with 164,000 viewers for Windsor-Brandon on Friday. On Saturday, a respectable 298,000 watched Calgary-Moncton. Brandon-Moncton on Sunday drew 67,000.

 NLL final, Toronto-Washington, Friday, TSN, 125,000.

 That’s Hockey NHL conference final preview, TSN, Saturday, 211,000.

 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix qualifying, Saturday, TSN, 181,000.

 NASCAR, Nationwide Heluva Good 200, TSN, Saturday, 113,000.

Diving: Canada Cup, CBC, Saturday, 129,000.

 Track and Field Diamond League, CBC, Saturday, 92,000.

 MLS: Toronto-LA Galaxy, Sportsnet, Saturday, 100,000.

 Formula 1, Monaco Grand Prix, Sunday, TSN, 262,000.

CBC preparing to launch HDTV channel for World Cup

 Soccer fans will be pleased to learn that the CBC’s secondary World Cup channel, Bold, will be made available in HDTV by some cable distributors.

  Sources close to the CBC report that a HDTV channel for Bold will be up and running before the start of the World Cup, which is June 11.

  I reported last week that footy fans had spotted a weakness to the CBC’s wall-to-wall World Cup coverage. It was the absence of HDTV on Bold, which will function mainly as a World Cup encore channel, but will also air live telecasts late in the first round.

  “The CBC anticipated this (fan unrest over no HDTV on Bold),” a source said. “The network knows soccer fans!”

    No word yet on which carriers – cable and/or satellite – will make available the Bold HDTV channel.

  Here’s my column from last week, now outdated as it pertains to the HDTV situation regarding Bold, but otherwise relevant to the CBC’s overall World Cup coverage:

   The footy crowd has found a flaw in the CBC’s World Cup coverage.

  Here’s what it is: The cable channel, Bold, which will function as the CBC’s secondary World Cup carrier, is not available in high definition TV.

   That, of course, won’t affect standard definition TV users, but it will handicap the viewing, to some degree, of the HDTV audience.

   Bold, a CBC cable channel, will air live telecasts late in the first round when two games are scheduled simultaneously.

   For example, on June 22, Mexico plays Uruguay at 9:45 a.m. ET. Also at that time, France plays South Africa. The CBC’s main network, with HDTV, will air Mexico-Uruguay. Bold, without HDTV, will pick up France-South Africa.

   To its credit, CBC will turn around and immediately air a repeat of France-South Africa at noon on the main channel in HDTV.

   Bold will be used by the CBC primarily as a World Cup encore channel, but that also presents a bit of a problem. Fans, at work during the day without access to a personal computer or mobile devise, will see the games for the first time in the evenings.

   The CBC main network will carry a “match of the day” in HDTV in prime time. But the remainder of the day’s games will be limited of Bold in SDTV. Here’s the CBC’s first round sked.

  The World Cup tournament starts June 11 and runs for a month. The CBC will have Brenda Irving of CBC Sports and Kim Brunhuber, an author and CBC national correspondent, in South Africa to file reports.

  The studio panel will consist of Jason De Vos, a former Canadian team captain who did some good work for the CBC at the Beijing Olympics; announcer Nigel Reed; Bob Lenarduzzi, another former Canadian team member, and John Collins, a former Scotland player.

CBCSports.ca also will provide analysis from CBCSports.ca’s John Molinaro; Cape Town SuperSport commentator Mark Gleason; South American soccer writer and BBC broadcaster Tim Vickery, and Madrid-based guardian.co.uk soccer columnist and commentator Sid Lowe.

   The CBC will use host broadcast British announcers; the games will be streamed and also available on mobile devices.

Blue Jays dump TSN, Rogers could launch new channel soon

Here’s the news release announcing the Toronto Blue Jays are dropping TSN as a carrier. The games will be aired exclusively on Rogers Sportsnet. This is not good news for TSN, which has a strategy of presenting a big menu of programming. Losing the Jays shrinks that menu. TSN and TSN2 lose a major property.

   The news release doesn’t mention this, but, of course,  the club and Sportsnet are owned by the same company, Rogers Communications. This, to some degree, is tied to building Sportsnet’s brand as much as it is about establishing the consistency of airing Jays games on one network.

  However, it’s widely speculated that the big motivation for Rogers grabbing all the Jays games is to use a package of games as content for a new national channel that Sportsnet will launch very soon.

  As part of this deal, TSN2 acquires the rights to ESPN’s Sunday night MLB telecast. Rogers controls MLB rights in Canada, so I’m assuming the Sunday night game went to TSN2 in return for TSN agreeing to discontinue its Jays contract for this season.

 Here’s the release:

 BLUE JAYS NOW EXCLUSIVELY ON SPORTSNET

            All 162 TORONTO BLUE JAYS games during the 2010 season will now be broadcast exclusively by ROGERS SPORTSNET.  

            The Toronto Blue Jays approached TSN with a request to buy back the final year of a contract that expires at the end of 2010.   At that time, the club notified TSN that Blue Jays games for future seasons would no longer be available.  The Blue Jays, TSN and Sportsnet worked together to come up with a mutually satisfactory solution.

            “TSN has been a tremendous partner of ours since the inception of their network in 1984.  TSN was a great force in helping us promote our brand and Major League Baseball in Canada.  However, it was felt that with the multitude of channels that Rogers Sportsnet now offers that the Blue Jays and their fans would be best served by having one network produce and distribute our games.”

–  Paul Beeston, Toronto Blue Jays, President and CEO. 

            TSN/TSN2 was scheduled do 25 games for the 2010 season.  As part of the agreement between Sportsnet and TSN, MLB Sunday Night Baseball will be transferred to TSN beginning this Sunday, May 16th.

             “TSN has had a wonderful relationship with the Blue Jays starting with our very first telecast on the day the network launched in 1984. While all of us at TSN wish the Blue Jays the best of luck in the future, we are looking forward to giving fans the best of Major League Baseball every week with the Sunday Night Baseball package.”

–  Phil King, President,  TSN

            “Sportsnet is extremely pleased that a satisfactory arrangement was worked out with the Jays and TSN. We look forward to our role as the Jays’ flagship television carrier.”

–  Doug Beeforth, President, Sportsnet