.svg) Rogers Communications' logo used since March 2015 | |
 TheRogers Building inToronto, 2007 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | September 30, 1960; 65 years ago (September 30, 1960) |
| Founder | Ted Rogers |
| Headquarters | Rogers Building, Toronto, Ontario ,Canada |
Key people |
|
| Products | Landline andmobile telephony,Internet services,digital television,broadcasting,cable TV,publishing |
| Revenue |  CA$20.6 billion (2024)[1] |
| CA$4.59 billion (2024)[1] | |
| CA$1.73 billion (2024)[1] | |
| Total assets | CA$71.4 billion (2024)[1] |
| Total equity |  CA$10.4 billion (2024)[1] |
| Owner | Rogers family, through Rogers Control Trust (administered byScotiabank) (controlling shareholder) |
Number of employees | 24,000 (2024)[1] |
| Subsidiaries | |
| ASN | |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [2][3][4][1] | |
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadiancommunications andmedia company operating primarily in the fields ofwireless communications,cable television,telephony andInternet, with significant additionaltelecommunications,mass media, andprofessional sports assets. Rogers has its headquarters inToronto, Ontario.[5]
The company traces its origins to 1914, whenEdward S. Rogers Sr. foundedRogers Vacuum Tube Company to sell battery-less radios, although this present enterprise dates to 1960, whenTed Rogers and a partner acquired theCHFI-FM radio station;[6] they then became part-owners of a group that established theCFTO television station.[7]
The chief competitor to Rogers isBell Canada, which has a similarly extensive portfolio of radio and television media assets, as well as wireless, television distribution, and telephone services, particularly in Eastern and Central Canada. The two companies are often seen as having aduopoly on communications services in their regions, and both companies owned a stake ofMaple Leaf Sports & Entertainment until 2025, when Rogers bought Bell's stake and became the majority owner. Rogers also competes nationally withTelus for wireless services.
Rogers Communications' acquisition ofShaw Communications inWestern Canada was approved in 2023.
In 1925,Edward Rogers Sr. invented the world's firstalternating current (AC) heater filament cathode for aradio tube, which then enabledradios to be powered by ordinary transformer-coupled household electric currents.[6] This was a breakthrough in the technology and became a key factor in popularizing radio reception. He also established theCFRB radio station in Toronto (later acquired by outside interests). In 1931, he was awarded an experimental television licence in Canada. On May 6, 1939, he was working on radar when he died suddenly due to complications of a hemorrhage, at the age of 38. He left a widow, Velma, and a five-year-old son, Edward (known as Ted). While his business interests were subsequently sold, his son later became determined to carry on his father's legacy.[6]
In 1960, Ted Rogers and broadcaster Joel Aldred[8] raised money to found Aldred-Rogers Broadcasting in order to purchaseCHFI, an FM radio station in Toronto.[9] Aldred-Rogers Broadcasting also became a part-owner ofBaton Aldred Rogers Broadcasting (BARB), which establishedCFTO-TV, Toronto's first private television station.[10][11] In 1962, Rogers establishedCHFI (AM), an AM radio station that later became CFTR. In 1967, Rogers established Rogers Cable TV in partnership with BARB. In 1971, newCRTC regulations forced BARB to sell its 50% stake in Rogers Cable TV.
In 1979, Rogers acquired Canadian Cablesystems, and became listed on theToronto Stock Exchange as a result. In 1980, Rogers acquired Premier Cablevision and became the largest cable company in Canada. In 1986, Rogers Cable was renamed Rogers Communications; it established operational control overCantel, a wireless telephone company in which Rogers had a stake.
In 2000, Rogers acquiredCable Atlantic[12] from Newfoundland businessmanDanny Williams.
In July 2001, Rogers Media acquired CTVSportsnet, which was renamed asRogers Sportsnet that November.[13] The FAN 590 sports radio station joined Rogers Media in August 2001, along with 14 Northern Ontario radio stations.[14]
In fall 2004, several strategic transactions were executed that significantly increased Rogers exposure to the potential of the Canadian wireless market. Rogers acquired the 34% of Rogers Wireless owned by AT&T Wireless Services Inc. for $1.77 billion.[15]
On December 2, 2008, Ted Rogers died of heart failure.[16]
In 2012, Rogers Cable filed a complaint in an Ontario court against penalties levied under a 'Truth in Advertising' law, claiming that the amount of the penalties, and the requirements imposed by the law, were in violation of theCharter of Rights and Freedoms.[17]
The company also had to recognize the rising market trend of customers canceling or foregoing cable television service subscriptions in favour of cheaper priced alternate content delivery means, such asstreaming media services likeNetflix, a demographic called "cord cutters" and "cord nevers". In response, Rogers acquired content with a speculated cost of $100 million to begin their own competing online streaming service,Shomi, much like the AmericanHulu Plus,[18] which launched November 4, 2014. Shomi subsequently shut down after only 2 years of operation, on November 30, 2016.[19]
In the summer of 2014, Rogers reported a 24% drop in profit compared to the previous year's second quarter.[20]
In August 2018, Rogers launched Ignite TV, a new cable television platform. The platform is licensed from Comcast's "X1" platform.[21][22]
In November 2023, Rogers acquired Canadian ISP and VOIP provider Comwave.[23][24]
In July 2025, Rogers became the first Canadian wireless provider to launch satellite-to-mobile text messaging service, extending coverage to 5.4 million square kilometers through partnerships with SpaceX andLynk Global. The service allows text messaging and text-to-911 capabilities in areas without traditional cellular coverage.[25]
On March 15, 2021, Rogers announced its intent to acquireShaw Communications for $26 billion, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.[26] This proposed acquisition was criticized by public lobby groups likeOpen Media, as a move that would reduce national competition in Canadian wireless communication by removing one of the four major competitors from the market.[27]
On September 29,chief financial officer Tony Staffieri left the company. On October 8,The Globe and Mail reported that this came about followingEdward Rogers' attempt to have Staffieri replace Joe Natale, a former Telus executive and the company's third CEO since Ted Rogers' death in 2008. This attempt was opposed by Edward's mother and sisters.[28] Edward Rogers was then removed as chairman of the board, while remaining a board member, on October 21.[29] However, a proposal to remove Edward as chair of the Rogers Control Trust, which holds the majority voting interest in Rogers Communications on behalf of the family, did not receive sufficient support from other members of the trust's advisory committee.[30]
The following day, Edward Rogers, in his capacity as chair of the Control Trust, announced he was unilaterally enacting a writtenshareholder resolution replacing five of the board'sindependent directors, and two days later convened a meeting at which the "reconstituted" board re-appointed him as chair of the board of Rogers Communications. The legality of the resolution has been disputed by the board members that were purportedly replaced, and by other members of the Rogers family.[31]
The CRTC approved the Shaw Communications acquisition on March 24, 2022.[32]
In May 2022, the Canadian Competition Bureau requested an order from the Competition Tribunal blocking Rogers's takeover of Shaw Communications, arguing that the deal would substantially lessen competition by eliminating Rogers' closest competitor in the wireless sector.[33] It also requested an injunction to stop the cable companies from closing the deal until the application can be heard.[33]
After two years since it was first announced, Rogers' acquisition of Shaw Communications received the last regulatory approval from the Industry Minister,Francois-Philippe Champagne. To appease concerns over a lack of competition arising, Shaw will be required to sell off itsFreedom Mobile wireless business to Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron for $2.85 billion. In addition, Rogers and Videotron agreed to a number of conditions requiring the addition of 3,000 jobs in Western Canada, Videotron must also offer plans 20% lower than the competition and commit to spending $150 million in the next two years to upgrade the Freedom Mobile network. Rogers and Videotron would be liable to pay upwards of $1 billion and $200 million in penalties, respectively, if the commitments were not fulfilled.[34][35]
In April 2024, Rogers announced a 10-year agreement withComcast; expanding upon its Ignite TV partnership, the agreement gives Rogers access to Comcast-developed broadband, smart home, and home security hardware.[36]
On April 19, 2021, wireless calling, SMS messaging and data services were down throughout much of Canada for almost a full day because of a glitched software update.[37] Rogers reimbursed consumers for the inconvenience.[38]
On July 8, 2022, millions of customers reported issues with Rogers mobile and Internet services, including someCanada government services, such asService Canada,Canada Revenue Agency and passport offices,[39] as well as Canadian interbank, money transfer networkInterac,ATMs and9-1-1 services.[40][41] Rogers apologized for the mass outage and said it was trying to restore services. Rogers President and CEO Tony Staffieri issued an apology via Twitter about 17 hours after the start of the incident, acknowledging the issue to the public after a day of system outage.[39] Staffieri acknowledged that the outage stems from a failed maintenance update.[42] Rogers has offered credit as compensation for the outage.[43]
A report byCloudflare suggested that the outage was due to internal, rather than external, causes. It identified spikes inBGP updates, as well as withdrawals ofIPprefixes, noting that Rogers was not advertising its presence, causing other networks to not find the Rogers network.[44] Cause of the outage or expected downtime was initially not revealed. The outage was later said to be caused by a maintenance upgrade that caused routers to malfunction,[45] similar to the outage which occurred a year prior.[46]
On July 11, 2022, Canada federal government opened an investigation about the most recent outage and demanded telecoms companies to make communication protocols to keep customers better informed about possible disruptions. On the same day, Industry ministerFrançois-Philippe Champagne met the CEOs of Rogers,BCE Inc,Telus Corp,Shaw Communications Inc.,Quebecor Inc.'s Videotron Ltd.,SaskTel andBragg Communications Inc.'sEastlink. During that meeting, the Industry minister asked companies to implement an agreement in 60 days in which the companies will be able to help each other during an outage in one of their networks.[47]
As a result of the mentioned investigation, as well as scrutiny and criticism over the glitch and the company itself, some traders said the chances of a merger deal between Rogers andShaw Communications dropped to nearly 62% on July 11, 2022 from 88% in the week earlier.[48]
Rogers CEO, Tony Staffieri, blamed the outage on the maintenance update, and offered a five day service credit to the customers as a sign of apology.[49]
Rogers Communications is traded on theToronto Stock Exchange and on theNew York Stock Exchange under ticker "RCI".
Following the death of Ted Rogers in 2008, control of Rogers Communications passed to the Rogers Control Trust, atrust for which a subsidiary ofScotiabank serves as trustee. Edward Rogers and daughter Melinda Rogers serve, respectively, as chairman and vice-chair of the trust.[50][51]
The current members of theboard of directors of Rogers Communications are:[3]
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A previous composition of the board was disputed by Edward Rogers, who, in his capacity as chair of the Rogers Control Trust, announced on October 22 that Brooks, Clappison, Jacob, MacDonald, and Peterson had been replaced on the board by Michael Cooper, Jack Cockwell,Ivan Fecan, Jan Innes, and John Kerr.[31] On October 24, this re-constituted board re-appointed Edward Rogers as chair of the board.[31] Despite theSupreme Court of British Columbia's legal affirmation of the changes,[52] they had been described as "invalid" by the three other Rogers family members on the company's board, as well as the replaced individuals.[31]
In November 2021, Tony Staffieri succeeded Joe Natale and was appointed the new interim president and CEO.[53] In January 2022, Staffieri was appointed to the position permanently.[54]
The senior corporate officers of Rogers Communications currently are:[55]
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Assets and divisions of Rogers Communications include:
In addition to its ownership ofSportsnet, acquired fromCTV,Sportsnet One andSportsnet World, Rogers Sports & Media operates theToronto Blue Jaysbaseball team through Rogers Blue Jays Baseball Partnership and theRogers Centre (previously known asSkyDome). Through Sportsnet, Rogers Sports & Media also holds a 50% ownership in Dome Productions, a mobile production and distribution joint venture that is a leader in high-definition television production and broadcasting in Canada. Rogers also owns the naming rights toRogers Arena, home of theVancouver Canucks,[56] as well asRogers Place, the home of theEdmonton Oilers.[57]
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Rogers Communications owns 75% ofMaple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, owners of theToronto Maple Leafs of theNational Hockey League,Toronto Raptors of theNational Basketball Association,Toronto Argonauts of theCanadian Football League, andToronto FC ofMajor League Soccer, as well as their minor leaguefarm teams, theToronto Marlies of theAmerican Hockey League (AHL),Raptors 905 of theNBA G League andToronto FC II ofMLS Next Pro, respectively.
On June 28, 2007, Rogers offered to sell the two religious-licensed OMNI stations in Winnipeg and Vancouver as part of the Citytv deal, although the company stated that it intended to retain the multilingual-licensed OMNI stations.[58] In September 2007, Rogers applied to theCRTC to acquire 20 per cent ofCablePulse 24, a local news channel in Toronto.[59]
On August 25, 2012, Rogers Media agreed to acquireScore Media which includesThe Score Television Network for $167 million, including a 10% stake of its digital business. The deal was completed on Oct. 19, 2012.[60][61]
In 2012, Rogers purchasedCJNT-DT Montreal,[62] and on February 3, 2013, it was rebranded as City Montreal.[citation needed]
On November 26, 2013, Rogers Communications Inc, unveiled the details of a 12-year,C$5.2 billion partnership with theNational Hockey League which began in the2014–15 season. This gave Rogers the controlling stake for national broadcast and digital rights of the NHL and ultimately gave them the ability to stream all NHL feeds on all of their current platforms replacing bothBell Media andCBC Sports as the national broadcast and cable television rightsholders respectively. The effects of this deal shifted the balance of power in the country's broadcast industry as it drove up demand for Rogers Cable TV subscriptions. This transaction marked the first time a first-class North American-wide sports league has allowed all its national right to one company on a long-term basis.[63][64] As part of the deal, Rogers also took over Canadian distribution of theNHL Centre Ice and GameCentre Live services. NationalEnglish-language coverage of the NHL is carried primarily by Rogers'Sportsnet group of specialty channels; Sportsnet holds an exclusive window for games played on Wednesday nights.Hockey Night in Canada was maintained and expanded under the deal, airing up to seven games nationally on Saturday nights throughout the regular season acrossCBC Television, the Sportsnet networks, Rogers-owned television networkCitytv, andFX Canada. While CBC maintains Rogers-produced NHL coverage during the regular season and playoffs through atime-brokerage agreement with the company, Rogers assumes editorial control and the ownership of any advertising revenue from the telecasts.[65] Citytv (and later Sportsnet) also airs a Sunday night game of the week,Rogers Hometown Hockey, which features a pre-game show originating from various Canadian communities. Sportsnet's networks also air occasional games involving all-U.S. matchups.[66][67][68][69][70][71]
Under a sub-licensing agreement with Rogers,Quebecor Media holds nationalFrench-language rights to the NHL, with all coverage airing on its specialty channelTVA Sports. TVA Sports' flagship broadcasts on Saturday nights focus primarily on theMontreal Canadiens.[72][73]
Rogers sought to increase the prominence of NHL content on digital platforms by re-launching the NHL's digitalout-of-market sports package GameCentre Live as Rogers NHL GameCentre Live, adding the ability to stream all of Rogers' national NHL telecasts, along with in-market streaming of regional games for teams whose regional rights are held by Sportsnet.[74]GamePlus—an additional mode featuring alternate camera angles intended for asecond screen experience, such as angles focusing on certain players, net and referee cameras, and a Skycam in selected venues, was also added exclusively for GameCentre Live subscribers who are subscribed to Rogers' cable, internet, or wireless services.[75][76]
In the lead-up to the 2014–15 season, Rogers began to promote its networks as the new home of the NHL through a multi-platform advertising campaign; the campaign featured advertising and cross-promotions across Rogers' properties, such asThe Shopping Channel, which began to feature presentations of NHL merchandise, and its parenting magazineToday's Parent, which began to feature hockey-themed stories in its issues.[77] On May 28, 2014, Rogers announced a six-year sponsorship deal with Scotiabank, which saw the bank become the title sponsor forWednesday Night Hockey andHockey Day in Canada, and become a sponsor for other segments and initiatives throughout Rogers' NHL coverage.[78]
On October 6, 2014, Rogers and NHL began their media sales venture in which Rogers will lead all Canadian national NHL media sales across its owned and operated broadcast and digital platforms as well as ad sales for League-owned digital assets in Canada.[79]
Rogers Bank (French:Banque Rogers) is a Canadianfinancial services company wholly owned by Rogers Communications. Rogers applied to theMinister of Finance under theBank Act for permission to establish a Schedule I bank (a domestic bank that may accept deposits) in summer 2011.[80] At launch, Rogers Bank offered a Rogers-brandedcredit card targeted at existing customers.[81] A companion card branded for Rogers subsidiaryFido was introduced in 2016.,[82] but is no longer accepting new applications. The bank offers two categories of credit card to Canadians: Rogers RedMastercard[83] and Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard.[84]
Prior to 2019, Rogers Publishing Limited published more than 70 consumer magazines and trade and professional publications, digital properties and directories in Canada, includingMaclean's, Canada's weekly newsmagazine; its French-language equivalent,L'actualité; Sportsnet Magazine;Chatelaine;Flare; and a variety of other magazines and their companion websites.[85] The publishing arm was once part of the Maclean-Hunter Publishing empire.[86] Rogers did not have printing facilities and contracted out services in 2008 to Montreal-basedTC Transcontinental to print magazines from their plants across Canada.[87]
In March 2019, Rogers sold their magazine brands, includingMaclean's,Chatelaine andHELLO! Canada, toSt. Joseph Communications for an undisclosed sum.[88]
In 2011, a partnership was formed between Rogers Communications andYodle, Inc to provide a suite ofdigital marketing services to Canadian small, medium, and enterprise size business.[89][90][91][92][93] These are marketed under the name OutRank by Rogers and operate as a business unit within the company. Services includesearch engine optimization,mobile marketing,social media marketing,pay per click, andanalytics.[94][95][96][97] The opening was announced in January 2012 with the launch of their first client, Ontario-based CLS Roofing.[98] OutRank by Rogers is a Google Premier SMB Partner and promotesresponsive web design.[99][100] The company is a donor to theRonald Mcdonald House of Toronto.[101]
In 2008, Rogers Communications launchedZoocasa, an online real estate listing service. The company later became a licensed real estate brokerage and in May 2013, the website relaunched to allow homebuyers to find properties and agents.[102] The service also provided rebates on real estate commissions to buyers and sellers. Zoocasa was shut down on June 22, 2015. The website's domain and technology were purchased for $350,000 and the website relaunched on July 2, 2015, under new ownership.[103]
Texture (previously known as Next Issue) was a digital magazine app introduced to the Canadian market by Rogers in 2013.[104] The service had a monthly subscription fee that gave readers access to over 200 magazines in English and French.[105]
Texture was purchased by Apple in 2018; in 2019, it was discontinued and integrated intoApple News+.
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{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)OutRank by Rogers helps small businesses connect with potential customers.
Called Outrank, the service promises to help companies generate more inbound phone calls and emails by offering a suite of products that include Web site design, search engine optimization (SEO) services, campaign tracking and paid search marketing.
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