Rogers Sports & Media | |
Company type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Mass media |
Predecessor | Maclean-Hunter |
Founded | 1960 1994 (current) | (original)
Headquarters | 1 Mount Pleasant Road, , Canada |
Products | Entertainment, News, and Sports |
Parent | Rogers Communications |
Divisions | Rogers Radio |
Website | rogerssportsandmedia.com |
Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, [1] is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, OLN, localized versions of FX and FXX, the Rogers Radio stations, Frequency Podcast Network, and these properties' associated digital media outlets.
The company previously owned a number of magazines under the Rogers Publishing banner, including the former Maclean-Hunter magazines (such as namesake Maclean's ). In 2019, Rogers completed its divestment of the unit's remaining properties to St. Joseph Communications.
Current television brands owned by Rogers include the English-language Citytv and multicultural Omni television systems, and the Sportsnet family of channels, which began as a group of regional sport channels and now serves as the de facto sports programming brand and division for Rogers. Through Sportsnet, Rogers also distributes the linear version of WWE Network; as part of a larger program rights agreement with WWE, in which Sportsnet 360 carries WWE's main programming. Other television brands include TSC, and Canadian versions of FX, FXX, and OLN.
The Rogers Radio unit owns 55 stations across Canada.
This section needs expansionwith: early history with sources. You can help by adding to it. (May 2020) |
Rogers Media was established in 1960 when Ted Rogers and Joel Aldred acquired CHFI. [2] The origins of Rogers can be traced to 1925 when Edward S. Rogers Sr. launched a radio station that would eventually become CFRB. In August of 1925, the name Rogers came into view on the Canadian broadcasting scene with the introduction of the Rogers Batteryless Radio at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. This invention was made with new tubes by Edward S. (Ted) Rogers, who invented them. Edward's father funded Albert's holding company Standard Radio Manufacturing Corporation Ltd. Standard this development. 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.
The business of Rogers Sports and Media began in 1960 when Ted borrowed $85,000 to buy Canada's first FM radio station, CHFI. That year, Rogers and Aldred formed Baton Aldred Rogers Broadcasting (a forerunner to present-day competitor Bell Media) when it acquired the license for CFTO-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 become CFTR went on air. [2]
In 1986, Rogers acquired CFMT, Canada's first multicultural station. It also received many stations from Selkirk Communications in 1989. [2]
In the most significant acquisition to date, Rogers Media acquired the assets of Maclean Hunter broadcasting properties in 1994 though it resold various properties to Western International Communications. [2]
In 2000, Bell GlobeMedia acquired NetStar, the parent company of TSN, which ultimately divested the stake of Sportsnet [2]
In June 2007, as part of CTVglobemedia's acquisition of CHUM Limited, Rogers announced its intent to acquire its Citytv stations. CTV had originally intended initially intended to sell CHUM's A-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 channel CP24, prompting Rogers to establish its own short-lived CityNews Channel in 2011 as a substitute, in cooperation with CITY-TV and sister news radio station 680 CFTR. The network folded in 2013. [4]
On January 16, 2008, the CRTC rejected an application by Rogers to establish a new rock radio station in Parry Sound, citing that it would have a disproportionately negative impact on its North Bay stations and local competitor CKLP-FM/. [5]
Rogers acquired a minority interest in the web-based video production firm Vuguru in 2009. [6] In 2010, Rogers received CHST-FM in London, Ontario, from CTVglobemedia. [7]
On August 25, 2012, Rogers Media acquired Score Media's broadcast business (including The Score Television Network) for $167 million, including a 10% stake in its digital business. The channel has since been rebranded to Sportsnet 360.
On November 26, 2013, Rogers announced that it would become the exclusive national media rightsholder for the National Hockey League beginning in the 2014–15 season under a 12-year contract valued at $5.2 billion. This gave Rogers rights to broadcast national telecasts on the Sportsnet networks and CBC Television (the latter as part of a sub-licensing agreement to maintain Hockey Night in Canada ) and handle distribution for the NHL's out-of-market packages. [8] [9] [10] [11]
In October 2014, Rogers announced a $100 million joint venture with Vice Media to establish a production studio in Toronto [12] and launch Vice-branded television and digital properties in 2015. [13] [14] On November 5, 2015, Rogers and Vice announced that it would launch Vice's upcoming specialty channel Viceland in Canada on February 29, 2016, replacing the existing Biography Channel Canada. [15] [13]
In September 2016, Rogers acquired Tillsonburg Broadcasting Company's CJDL-FM and CKOT-FM in Tillsonburg. [16] [17] [18] In January 2018, Rogers announced its acquisition of CJCY-FM in Medicine Hat, Alberta, from Clear Sky Radio. [19]
After Rogers pulled out of its venture with Vice, Viceland shut down on March 31, 2018. [20] [21] In March 2019, Rogers announced that it would sell its remaining print publications, including Maclean's , Chatelaine , and Hello! Canada , Today's Parent , and the digital operations of former magazines Canadian Business and Flare to St. Joseph Communications. [22] [23]
In February 2020, Rogers Media was rebranded as Rogers Sports & Media to "more accurately [reflect] our mix of assets." [24] However, the subsidiary's legal name did not change. [1]
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consists of six owned-and-operated (O&O) television stations located in the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, a cable-only service that serves the province of Saskatchewan, and three independently owned affiliates serving smaller cities in Alberta and British Columbia.
Moses Znaimer is a Tajik-born Canadian media executive of Jewish descent. He is the co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia.
The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by CTV Specialty Television, owned jointly by Bell Media (70%) and ESPN Inc. (30%), itself a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. TSN was established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. TSN is the largest specialty channel in Canada in terms of gross revenue, with a total of CA$400.4 million in revenue in 2013.
CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in 1954. CHUM had expanded to and owned 33 radio stations across Canada under its CHUM Radio Network division and also owned other radio stations.
CKVR-DT is a television station in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the CTV 2 system. It is owned and operated by Bell Media alongside Toronto-based CTV flagship CFTO-DT, channel 9 ; it is also sister to 24-hour regional news channel CP24. CKVR-DT's studios are located at 33 Beacon Road in Barrie, and its transmitter is located near Essa Road/Highway 27 on the city's southwest side.
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet, with significant additional telecommunications and mass media assets. Rogers has its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario.
Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was required to divest its stake in the network following its 2001 acquisition of competing network TSN. Rogers then became the sole owner of Sportsnet in 2004 after it bought the remaining minority stake that was held by Fox.
Bell Media Inc. is a Canadian media conglomerate that is the mass media subsidiary of BCE Inc.. Its operations include national television broadcasting and production, radio broadcasting, digital media and Internet properties.
CITY-DT is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television outlets CFMT-DT and CJMT-DT. The stations share studios at 33 Dundas Street East on Yonge–Dundas Square in downtown Toronto, while CITY-DT's transmitter is located atop the CN Tower.
CKVU-DT is a television station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television station CHNM-DT. The two stations share studios at the corner of West 2nd Avenue and Columbia Street in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood of Vancouver; CKVU-DT's transmitter is located atop Mount Seymour in the district municipality of North Vancouver, with additional transmitter link facilities on the roof of the Century Plaza Hotel in Downtown Vancouver.
CJNT-DT is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, part of the Citytv network. Owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media, the station maintains studios inside the Rogers Building at the corner of McGill College Avenue and Cathcart Street near the Place Ville Marie complex in downtown Montreal, and its transmitter is located at Mount Royal Park, near downtown Montreal.
Omni Television is a Canadian television system and group of specialty channels owned by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. It currently consists of all six of Canada's conventional multicultural television stations, which are located in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and an affiliate in Quebec. The system's flagship station is CFMT in Toronto, which was the first independent multicultural television station in Canada.
Sportsnet 360 (SN360) is a Canadian discretionary specialty channel owned by Rogers Media. The channel was launched in 1994 as the licence-exempt service Sportscope, which featured a display of sports news and scores. In 1997, the network was re-launched under Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) licensing as Headline Sports, adding anchored segments to its rolling sports news programming. In 2000, the network gained the ability to air occasional broadcasts of live sporting events, and was re-launched as The Score. In 2012, the network's parent company Score Media announced that it would sell the network to Rogers Communications, which owns the competing Sportsnet family of sports television networks; in 2013, the network was re-branded as Sportsnet 360.
CHUM-FM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, broadcasting on 104.5 MHz. Owned by Bell Media, the station airs a hot adult contemporary format. CHUM-FM's studios are located at 250 Richmond Street West in the Entertainment District, while its transmitter is located atop the CN Tower. The station is simulcast on Shaw Direct channel 872, and on Bell Satellite TV channel 990. CHUM-FM is consistently one of Toronto's most popular stations according to Numeris' radio ratings.
Viceland was a Canadian pay television channel. It was owned by Vice Network Canada, Inc., which was owned by Rogers Media with minority ownership by Vice Media. It was a Canadian version of Viceland, broadcasting lifestyle-oriented documentary and reality series aimed towards a young adult demographic.
CKGL is a Canadian radio station in Kitchener, Ontario. The station currently broadcasts a news/talk format branded on-air as CityNews 570. The station is owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, and is an affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Radio Network. CKGL is also the radio broadcaster for the Kitchener Rangers.
CKPG-TV is a television station in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, affiliated with Citytv. The station is owned by the Pattison Media, and maintains studios on 3rd Avenue in Prince George; its transmitter is located atop Pilot Mountain.
In 2007, significant ownership changes occurred in Canada's broadcast television industry, involving nearly every private English-language network and television system. In addition to the shuffling of network affiliations and mergers involving various networks, several new television stations and rebroadcast transmitters also signed on the air.
The Rogers Building, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is part of the corporate campus of Canadian media conglomerate Rogers Communications, as well as the home of most, but not all, of the company's Toronto operations.
CityNews Channel was a Canadian English language specialty digital cable television channel from 2011 to 2013. It was owned by the Rogers Media division of Rogers Communications, and primarily focused on the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The channel was only available in Ontario and broadcast a single feed in high definition which was also accessible through standard definition televisions.
Applicant: ROGERS MEDIA INC.