The unrest hockey fans are feeling towards Rogers controversial streaming of its Monday Night Hockey package now has some heavyweight company.
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fans → feel → company
Three of the country’s prominent cable providers — Cogeco, Eastlink and SaskTel — have filed a complaint with the CRTC thus week, challenging the company as anti-competitive while claiming the Sportsnet+ streaming package “directly imposes an artificial price inflation on Canadian sports fans.”
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package → file → fans
At issue is the fact that Rogers is offering the Monday night package for free to its own subscribers while imposing a $12.99 monthly surcharge for other cable companies.
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Rogers → offer → companies
That is being argued as anti-competitive, among other things, in a high-powered filing that will surely escalate one of the prominent issues of this NHL season.
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that → argue → season
“Rogers’ anti-competitive practice forms part of an overt, systemic strategy of market foreclosure designed to starve competing service providers of ‘must-have’ programming and systematically undermine retail competition across Canada’s broadcasting sector,” the complaint reads.
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complaint → form → sector
“Without swift, decisive, and binding regulatory intervention by the Commission, this predatory siphoning of must-have live sports content — chief among it Monday night NHL hockey (‘Monday Night Hockey’) — will inflict immediate and irreversible structural damage on the Canadian broadcasting ecosystem.”
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siphoning → inflict → ecosystem
Rogers sees it differently, of course, arguing that other cable companies should provide the content for free.
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companies → see → content
A comment from the company on the filing was not immediately available, as the heat continues to rise on a move designed to bring more revenue to Rogers in this the first of a 12-year, $11-billion broadcasting deal with the NHL.
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heat → continue → NHL
Among the many worries from the complainants — and one shared by angry viewers — is that the Monday Night Hockey structure serves as a troubling precedent.
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serves → share → precedent
If Rogers can do this for Monday night games, in other words, when will it end?
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it → do → words
“What begins today as a handful of regular-season NHL games and playoff rounds will inevitably escalate to the Stanley Cup final and the season finale of hit TV shows, creating an unchecked slippery slope that starves independent (cable companies) of of vital content and dismantles the integrity of Canada’s entire broadcasting system,” the complaint says.
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complaint → begin → system
The concerns from the competition run deeper.
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concerns → run → competition
Among them, according to the filing: Rogers rivals are unable to “shield their customers from significant pricing inflation” leaving them “exposed” to Rogers pricing.
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rivals → accord → pricing
The outrage from hockey fans is at issue: “The accelerated cord-cutting from disgruntled subscribers weakens the broader Canadian broadcasting ecosystem.”
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cutting → disgruntle → ecosystem
In its filing, the complaint also expresses concern over Rogers far-reaching control of the Canadian sports landscape.
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complaint → express → landscape
With the recent completion of the company’s purchase of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, those concerns have escalated.
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concerns → escalate → Sports
Rogers now has control of many of the country’s most prominent sports properties — including the Maple Leafs, Raptors and Blue Jays — as well as the primary rights holder for most of the games.
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Rogers → have → games
“Given that Rogers already exercises unprecedented dominance over Canada’s sports landscape — including its controlling interest in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (encompassing the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC, and Toronto Argonauts) alongside 100% ownership of the Toronto Blue Jays — the Commission must examine the dangerous precedent established here,” the filing reads.
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filing → give → precedent
“If Rogers is permitted to unilaterally siphon core NHL broadcasts such as playoff rounds away from linear TV feeds, no marquee content, sports or entertainment, will remain safe from platform fragmentation, and other large, vertically integrated media companies will inevitably follow suit.
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companies → permit → suit
“Without swift and decisive regulatory intervention to stop this slippery slope, Canadian viewers and independent BDUs will ultimately be left at the mercy of a captive, predatory distribution model designed to force consumers into ever increasing costs for diminished access.”
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viewers → stop → access
What have Canadian hockey fans been saying?
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fans → say → What
The arrival of streaming for Rogers’ Monday Night Hockey package was met with outrage from the beginning, but the noise continues to increase in volume.
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noise → meet → volume
“What Rogers is doing right now is trying to find the equilibrium point, the sweet spot,” Michael Naraine, an associate professor of sport management at Brock University, told the Toronto Sun.
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Naraine → do → Sun
“At what point do Leafs fans say, ‘This is too much?’
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This → say → ?
At what point are people going to stop consuming?
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people → go → ?
“Because if people complain but still put up with their wallets, they can bitch and moan all they want.
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they → complain → wallets
(Costs) will continue to go up and up until Rogers sees people are unsubscribing or people are getting IPTV.
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people → continue → IPTV
”
If Rogers had hoped for a quieting of the anger, the opposite may be in effect with this week’s filings by its rivals.
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opposite → hop → rivals
“The Commission must intervene without delay and put a definitive end to Rogers’ anti-competitive practice in order to preserve the integrity of the Canadian broadcasting system and properly defend Canadian consumers’ interests from coast to coast to coast,” the complaint reads.
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complaint → intervene → coast
“Given the severe and ongoing harm Rogers’ anti-competitive practices are inflicting across the Canadian broadcasting market, the Applicants respectfully request that the Commission consider and resolve this … on an expedited basis.”
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Commission → give → basis
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