Corus Entertainment Inc. has filed a complaint with Canada’s broadcasting regulator alleging Rogers Communications Inc. is “engaging in predatory behaviour” to suppress potential competition and breaching its regulatory requirements.
In a July 26 letter to the CRTC, posted online in redacted form this week, Corus vice-president and associate general counsel Matt Thompson asked for regulatory intervention to prevent a “significant adverse impact” to the television and radio broadcaster.
Corus alleged Rogers is using its “dominant size and scale” to undercut Canadian competitors through rights deals to foreign programming, as evidenced by pacts with Warner Bros. Discovery for the rights to its popular lifestyle and entertainment brands and NBCUniversal’s Bravo channel.
Rogers’ multi-year deal with Warner Bros. Discovery will take effect Jan. 1. It marks a significant blow to Corus, which is set to lose the Canadian rights to key brands such as HGTV, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Magnolia Network and OWN at the end of this year.
Corus also accused Rogers of using its cable and streaming platforms to discourage subscriptions to Corus content, such as its Disney-themed channels, by offering promotions for the Disney Plus streaming service.
In a statement, Rogers spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt called the complaint “baseless,” adding that Corus “has not kept up with the demands of Canadians and is now looking for the regulator to protect their broken business model.”
“They’re trying to force service providers to carry and our customers to pay for channels they no longer want to watch,” Schmidt said.
“They need to compete in a fair system and earn each customer, just like every other company.”
On Wednesday, Corus’s 900 CHML radio station in Hamilton, Ont., announced it was shuttering amid “the shift of advertising revenues to unregulated foreign platforms.”
The station also blamed the “difficult regulatory and competitive landscape” for the closure in a social media post.
Corus did not immediately respond to a request for comment on further details, such as how many employees would be affected and whether other radio stations under its umbrella were slated to close.
Last month, Corus reported a third-quarter loss attributable to shareholders of $769.9 million, compared with a loss of $495.1 million a year earlier.
It said it expected to have slashed 25 per cent of its full-time workforce by the end of August when compared with the beginning of its 2023 fiscal year.
The company previously announced it would cease operating legacy AM radio stations in Edmonton and Vancouver.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:CJR.B, TSX:RCI.B)
