Rogers dismisses competitor’s criticism of Shaw deal

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GATINEAU, Que. –

Rogers Communications Inc. used the last day of the CRTC hearings to examine its proposed takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. to dismiss criticism from its main rivals, while offering some concessions to independent producers and distributors.

Ted Woodhead, senior vice president of regulatory affairs at Rogers, said Friday that Bell Canada’s parent company BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. spoke in their personal interest rather than the public interest when they raised concerns about how big Rogers would be if the deal went through. .

“For decades these two companies have consistently championed the notion of scale for themselves, but have now decided scale is a bad thing when it comes to Rogers and Shaw.”

Woodhead said the merged company would lead to stronger competition in Western Canada and that there were more regulatory safeguards in place than there were in 2012, when the CRTC forced concessions to Bell before. to approve its purchase of Astral Media.

He noted that Bell was also in talks to buy Shaw’s assets, which would have allowed BCE to achieve the same scale Rogers is seeking with the deal.

The two main competitors, along with other speakers during the week of hearings focused on the broadcast side of the merger, raised concerns that Rogers-Shaw combined would exert too much influence in the market. controlling about 47 percent of the subscriber base.

Most independent producers and distributors did not categorically oppose the deal, but instead called for concessions and guarantees to maintain the status quo and give them more time to adjust to the rapidly changing world of broadcasting.

Several expressed concern that Rogers’ help to move them to the unregulated online space was an effort to push them away from existing services, but the company said its funding offers to get them to Developing applications for Internet television were aimed at helping them adjust to current market conditions, since it is already estimated that 40 to 50 percent of Canadians have cut their cable subscriptions.

“Many parties to this proceeding would prefer to ignore the reality of the present,” said Woodhead.

Pam Dinsmore, vice president of regulation at Rogers Cable, said Ethnic Channels Group’s demand for an effective guarantee that its revenues will not decline for five years was “totally unreasonable,” but pledged to increase the rate. minimum number of independent services at 45 compared to 40, the company signed up at the start of the week.

It said Rogers would also subject the satellite relay service business it would acquire through Shaw to the same dispute resolution options available for conventional broadcasting, after some distributors expressed concerns during the hearing about the threat of being removed from service.

During the week, interveners also raised concerns about Rogers’ plans to divert the roughly $ 13 million Shaw is currently paying Global News to expanded Western coverage for its own CityNews channels.

Critics said the change would likely mean less coverage for smaller markets as CityNews’ expansion will be limited to Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg, while Rogers has also been vague on the benefits of the funding, including the number more journalists that would mean for the company.

Rogers said on Friday that the funding commitment was contingent on falling revenues, so funding could drop, and said he would provide more details of his journalism plans in writing to the regulator.

While the CRTC hearings focused on the broadcasting aspects of the merger, issues such as mobile wireless services and Internet service providers will be considered by the Competition Bureau and the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 26, 2021.

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