 | |
| Rogers Sports & Media | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Mass media |
| Predecessor | Maclean-Hunter |
| Founded | 1960; 65 years ago (1960) (original) 1994; 31 years ago (1994) (current) |
| Headquarters | 1 Mount Pleasant Road,, Canada |
| Products | Entertainment,News, andSports |
| Parent | Rogers Communications |
| Divisions | Rogers Radio |
| Website | rogerssportsandmedia.com |
Rogers Media Inc.,operating asRogers Sports & Media,[1] is a Canadian subsidiary ofRogers Communications that owns the company'smass media andsports properties.
Current television brands owned by Rogers include twotelevision systems: the English-languageCitytv, and the multicultural-orientedOmni Television. Other television brands owned by Rogers includeTSC, and Canadian versions ofFX,FXX,Bravo,Discovery Channel,Food Network,HGTV,Investigation Discovery, andMagnolia Network.
TheSportsnet family of channels, which began as a group of regional sport channels, now serves as thede facto sports programming brand and division for Rogers.
In addition to television, theRogers Radio division owns 55 stations across Canada.
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Rogers Media was established in 1960 whenTed Rogers and Joel Aldred acquiredCHFI.[2] The origins of Rogers can be traced to 1927 whenEdward S. Rogers Sr. launched a radio station that would eventually becomeCFRB.
In August of 1925, the name Rogers came into view on the Canadian broadcasting scene with the introduction of theRogers Batteryless Radio at theCanadian National Exhibition in Toronto. This invention was made with new tubes by Edward S. (Ted) Rogers, who invented them. Rogers Sr founded the holding companyStandard Radio Manufacturing Corporation Ltd.. During the year 1927, the first ever seen radio broadcasting transmitter was built by Edward Rogers. This was a big deal because it operated from power lines without the assistance of batteries or converters. Rogers Batteryless was born from this invention.
In 1939, Edward Rogers died, and his son was only six years old. The Rogers family had involvement in Canada's broadcasting until about the mid-1940s; Velma, Edwards's wife, sold her shares away in Standard Radio Limited. Sixteen years later, the business would resurface again due to the son of Edward Rogers, Ted.
Rogers Media business began in 1960, when Ted borrowed $85,000 to buy Canada's first FM radio station, CHFI. That year, Rogers and Aldred formedBaton Aldred Rogers Broadcasting (a forerunner to present-day competitorBell Media) when it acquired the license forCFTO-DT, which launched the following year.[2] In 1962, Rogers bought Aldred's shares of CHFI, which changed its name to CHFI-FM Limited, then Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. By 1964, CHFI-AM, which would eventually becomeCFTR went on air.[2]
In 1986, Rogers acquiredCFMT, Canada's first multicultural station. It also received many stations fromSelkirk Communications in 1989.[2]
In the most significant acquisition to date, Rogers Media acquired the assets ofMaclean Hunter broadcasting properties in 1994. It later resold various properties toWestern International Communications.[2]
In 2000, Bell GlobeMedia acquired NetStar, the parent company ofTSN, and ultimately divested their stake inSportsnet,[2] making it a sister channel to CFMT and giving them full ownership.
In June 2007, as part ofCTVglobemedia's acquisition ofCHUM Limited, Rogers announced its intent to acquire itsCitytv stations. CTV had originally intended initially intended to sell CHUM'sA-Channel stations and several other specialty channels to Rogers. Still, the CRTC required the Citytv stations to be divested to comply with major-market ownership restrictions.[3] CTV maintained ownership of flagship Toronto station CITY-TV's local news channelCP24, prompting Rogers to establish its own short-livedCityNews Channel in 2011 as a substitute, in cooperation with CITY-TV and sister news radio station680 CFTR. The network folded in 2013.[4]
On January 16, 2008, the CRTC rejected an application by Rogers to establish a newrock radio station inParry Sound, citing that it would have a disproportionately negative impact on itsNorth Bay stations and local competitorCKLP-FM/.[5]
Rogers acquired a minority interest in the web-based video production firmVuguru in 2009.[6] In 2010, Rogers receivedCHST-FM in London, Ontario, from CTVglobemedia.[7]
In 2011, Rogers announced a partnership withFX Networks to launch aCanadian version ofFX. The channel was launched as FX Canada on October 31, 2011, with FX Networks acquiring a minority stake later that year.[8][9]
On August 25, 2012, Rogers Media acquiredScore Media's broadcast business, including The Score Television Network, for $167 million, including a 10% stake in its digital business. The network has since been rebranded asSportsnet 360.
On November 26, 2013, Rogers announced that it would become the exclusive national media rightsholder for theNational Hockey League (NHL) beginning in the2014–15 season under a 12-year contract valued at $5.2 billion. This gave Rogers rights to broadcastnational telecasts on the Sportsnet networks andCBC Television (the latter as part of a sub-licensing agreement to maintainHockey Night in Canada) and handle distribution for the NHL'sout-of-market packages.[10][11][12][13]
On April 1, 2014, aCanadian version of FX's younger-skewing sibling network,FXX, and the "FXNOW Canada" app were launched.[14][15]
On August 1, 2014, Rogers reached a deal with Americanprofessional wrestling promotionWWE. An expansion of Sportsnet 360's existing deal with the promotion as The Score, the network would continue to be the exclusive broadcaster of WWE's weekly television programming, while Rogers would distribute thelinear feed of theWWE Network.[16][17]
In October 2014, Rogers announced a $100 million joint venture withVice Media to establish a production studio in Toronto[18] and launch Vice-branded television and digital properties in 2015.[19][20] The following year, on November 5, 2015, Rogers and Vice announced that it would launch aCanadian version of Vice's specialty cable channel,Viceland, in Canada on February 29, 2016. The new channel would replace the Canadian version ofBiography Channel; a brand which was also owned by Vice Media investorA+E Networks.[21][19]
In September 2016, Rogers acquired Tillsonburg Broadcasting Company'sCJDL-FM andCKOT-FM inTillsonburg.[22][23][24] In January 2018, Rogers announced its acquisition ofCJCY-FM in Medicine Hat, Alberta, fromClear Sky Radio.[25]
Following an announcement on July 5, 2017, and over two years after the shuttering of itsU.S. namesake, the Canadian version ofG4 shut down on August 31, 2017.[26]
After Rogers pulled out of its venture with Vice, Viceland shut down on March 31, 2018.[27][28]
In March 2019, Rogers announced that it would sell its remaining print publications, includingMaclean's,Chatelaine, andHello! Canada,Today's Parent, and the digital operations of former magazinesCanadian Business andFlare toSt. Joseph Communications.[29][30]
In February 2020, Rogers Media was rebranded asRogers Sports & Media to "more accurately [reflect] our mix of assets."[31] However, the subsidiary's legal name did not change.[1]
In November 2023, Rogers reached an agreement withDisney Streaming to handle advertising sales for the ad-supported version ofDisney+ in Canada.[32]
On June 10, 2024, Rogers Sports & Media announced a licensing agreement withWarner Bros. Discovery (WBD) beginning in 2025. Under the agreement Rogers will hold the Canadian rights to WBD's factual brands, includingAnimal Planet,Discovery Channel,Food Network,HGTV,Investigation Discovery (ID),Magnolia Network,Motor Trend, theOprah Winfrey Network (OWN), andScience Channel.[33] Content will be distributed via new and existing Rogers platforms, including its television networks andCitytv+. Rogers also announced an agreement withNBCUniversal to relaunchBravo in Canada[a] in September 2024.[34] Rogers' agreement with WBD succeeds long-time partnerships the latter company had withBell Media[b] andCorus Entertainment[c], while the Bravo relaunch would be Rogers' third collaboration on a TV channel withComcast after the launches ofOLN andG4 in Canada.[d]
In a statement toThe Gazette media writer Steve Faguy, a Bell Media spokesperson stated that their agreements with Discovery "includes protections against the launch of competing services", and that they "fully intend to assert our rights with a view to protecting our business."[35] Bell subsequently filed for a courtinjunction to prevent Rogers from operating channels under the relevant brands for at least two years after the Rogers deal takes effect, citingnon-compete clauses in its outgoing agreement, along with monetary damages from both Rogers and WBD. Bell further alleged that Rogers induced WBD to break the non-complete clauses in question.[36] Subsequently, Rogers filed documents asserting that WBD had failed to disclose the non-compete clauses to Rogers. On August 30, Bell said that in light of that revelation, it was no longer seeking monetary damages from Rogers, but would proceed with claims against WBD; including injunctive relief.[37]
Corus also retaliated by filing a complaint with the CRTC in August 2024, accusing Rogers Communications as a whole of abusing a dominant position due toRogers Cable offering the ad-supported version of Disney+ to Ignite TV subscribers, and promoting the service adjacent to Corus' Disney-licensed specialty services in the Ignite TVprogram guide. Rogers countered that Corus "has not kept up with the demands of Canadians and is now looking for the regulator to protect their broken business model" and accused Corus of forcing service providers to carry channels that consumers "no longer want to watch."[38]
On August 28, Rogers announced its plans for how it will deploy the Warner Bros. Discovery factual brands: new specialty channels for theDiscovery,Food Network,HGTV,ID, andMagnolia Network brands launched on January 1, 2025, while content from Animal Planet, Cooking Channel, Motor Trend, OWN, and Science Channel will stream on digital platforms such as Citytv+.[39] Rogers would also confirm that OLN will be rebranded as Bravo on September 1.[40]
Later in September, Rogers launched a new audio app known as Seekr, which carries radio stations and podcasts from across the Rogers Sports & Media division. The company will continue its existing partnership withRadioplayer Canada.[41] On October 8, 2024, Bell announced that it had settled with WBD, agreeing to a renewal of its licensing agreements forHBO andWarner Bros. content on its streaming serviceCrave.[42]
Applicant: ROGERS MEDIA INC.
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