Rogers prepares to launch subscription-based broadband portal; talks with TV services continue

Rogers Cable’s broadband television portal, pitched early this year to the CRTC as alternative that will keep subscribers paying for cable services, is set to launch between now and September, with a tiered service of premium content and pay and specialty channels to follow early next year. “We are definitely going to launch in 2009 and it’s going to be a robust service, probably looking Q3, Q4 2009. But the notion being, we will be a base level service and then the tiered levels of pay and specialty and premium levels will be available probably Q1, 2010,” David Purdy, VP and GM, television products at Rogers told Tech Media Reports in Toronto earlier this week. Purdy and Ken Engelhart, Rogers’ senior VP, regulatory, unveiled the idea in March at the new media hearings. Both executives argued at the time that pay and specialty services, which mostly depend on subscription revenues from BDUs, will be spared the pain of dividing—or “cannibalizing”—their revenues if they put their content online. The idea was seen, in part, as an attempt by Rogers to counter the risk of a CRTC-imposed ISP levy to fund Canadian content. At the hearing, Rogers executives argued an ISP levy would be illegal under the Broadcasting Act and that there are alternatives to making sure that the objectives of the Act are fulfilled by stakeholders in the broadcast industry. However, this week Purdy brushed aside suggestions that a CRTC-imposed levy motivated the idea of the video portal, adding that levies don’t impact Rogers’ commitment to providing services to its customers. “The fundamental problem is customers are morphing and evolving in terms of how they consume entertainment content. So having this broadband video portal and the ability to provide content across multiple platforms, I think will help over-the-air broadcasters, it will help the specialty channels and I think it will obviously help the cable companies,” he says, noting that rather than taxing existing systems, stakeholders should be spending on future systems. “Because giving handouts to over-the-air broadcasters doesn’t solve the fundamental problem,” he adds. At the hearing, Purdy and Engelhart said high costs, associated with distribution and promotion, prevent broadcasters from exploiting their content online. The portal, they said, would reduce these costs dramatically by providing broadcast partners with servers and Internet access at a reduced rate. Additionally, Rogers Cable subscribers would receive the same level of service they receive on cable, including video-on-demand. But even as Rogers plans to roll-out the video portal, Purdy said the idea hasn’t been marketed to customers yet. The cable giant is currently concentrating on selling the idea to the industry, he says. “We haven’t started selling to the customers yet. We have talked about it to the industry because we need to get the studios and the networks on side first. And the studios and networks have become quite supportive of the initiative because they recognize that it has a lot of benefits.” CRTC commissioners at the hearing appeared impressed with the idea and started calling it “The Purdy Portal.” If launched, viewers will be able to watch their favourite shows at any time and location, regardless of the ISP they subscribe to.

Rogers prepares to launch subscription-based broadband portal; talks with TV services continue

Broadcast | June 18, 2009

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