Rogers Hate Thread

[rdavies]

My schadenfreude level is at an all time high, I am lovin' this (I'd put a smiley but all we have are these ridiculous giant blue ones)

Playoff TV ratings down a ‘shocking’ 61 percent in Canada
Ken Campbell The Hockey News April 19, 2016

Having no Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs was expected to have an adverse effect on TV ratings, but even people in the industry are taken aback at how viewers north of the 49th parallel have tuned out this year’s tournament in CBC and Sportsnet.

Through the first five nights of hockey in the playoffs – from last Wednesday (April 13) through Sunday (April 17) – an average of just 513,000 viewers tuned into the 20 NHL playoff games. Compare that to last spring when there were five Canadian teams playing in the first round and an average of 1.306 million viewers tuned into the first 21 first-round games. That’s a drop of 61 percent from last season.

“Even with no Canadian teams, those are shockingly low numbers,” said one industry expert. “There were regular season games on TSN two years ago that did better than that.”

Attempts by thn.com to reach Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL properties for Rogers, were not successful.

It’s a shame because Canadians who have not tuned in have missed out on some pretty entertaining hockey. But when there is no rooting interest, the numbers are bound to suffer. Much of that, said one insider, is due to the fact that the life had been sucked out of the Canadian teams pretty much since the all-star break when it became clear that no Canadian teams would make the playoffs this season. That diminished interest early and since there were no Canadian teams that were even battling for a playoff spot down the wire, fans of those teams have tuned out and, apparently, remained tuned out.

Of course it doesn’t help that the biggest ratings driver in the country was basically out of the playoffs when it won just one of its first 10 games back in October. From that time, the only race the Toronto Maple Leafs were involved in was the one for 30th place, which is exactly where they finished.

The question now is, can the ratings improve over the course of the rest of the playoffs? Typically, interest in the playoffs diminishes after the first round, but there are some compelling possibilities. The Washington Capitals are serving notice that they mean business in this post-season and they are a compelling story. And if the Pittsburgh Penguins can get past the New York Rangers in the first round, it sets up another Alex Ovechkin–Sidney Crosby matchup in the second round, which is bound to draw in more than just the hard-core hockey fans. In the west, the St. Louis Blues are giving the defending Stanley Cup champions all they can handle and the San Jose Sharks- Los Angeles Kings matchup is proving to be the heavyweight battle that was predicted.

Each game costs about $100,000 to produce and thus far, Hockey Night in Canada has had broadcast crews on hand for four series – Los Angeles vs. San Jose, Detroit vs. Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh vs. the Rangers and Washington vs. Philadelphia. One source close to the situation said that if the Capitals close out the Flyers in four games on Wednesday night, perhaps the crew working that series would move to the series between the New York Islanders and Florida Panthers.

In terms of the bigger picture, what does it mean when just one in every 69 Canadians is regularly tuning into NHL games at the most crucial time of the year? Even with no Canadian teams, that’s a low number. Perhaps people in Canada are more fans of Canadian teams than they are of the game itself. One thing is certain, broadcasters are missing out big-time on the casual hockey fan, the one who tunes in during the playoffs because he/she has a rooting interest, and that is showing up loud and clear in the ratings numbers.

[Neely2005]

Rogers Communications Inc. says it will make profit on NHL rights deal this year, ‘without any shadow of a doubt’

http://business.financialpost.com/in..._lsa=c490-d2fc

TORONTO — Even without any Canadian teams in this year’s National Hockey League playoffs, Rogers Communications Inc. expects to make a 10 per cent return on its NHL rights investment this year.

Speaking to media following the company’s annual general meeting Tuesday, chief executive Guy Laurence said that figure is an estimate that depends on how the playoffs go. However, he said this year’s spending on NHL rights “will absolutely, definitely, without any shadow of a doubt, make a profit, period,” although likely a slightly smaller one than last year.

Last year’s return on NHL rights was “in excess” of 10 per cent by a couple of percentage points, he said.

[rdavies]

I see you've posted the above at a few places. A little hard to believe isn't it? Especially when you have to do all those "make goods"

[Neely2005]

I see you've posted the above at a few places. A little hard to believe isn't it? Especially when you have to do all those "make goods"

Not at all. Rogers is a publicly traded company, if the CEO lies about financial matters it's illegal. I doubt he's going to risk that.

Also it's the regular season and playoff numbers that determine the return. Not just the playoffs.

[argolio]

Translation: Guy Laurence is full of sh:t.

[argolio]

Not at all. Rogers is a publicly traded company, if the CEO lies about financial matters it's illegal. I doubt he's going to risk that.

It's only illegal if Rogers files fraudulent financial info. Plenty of executives have issued public predictions that didn't come to fruition. And the way Rogers moves money around, they'll almost certainly never admit losing money on the NHL deal even if they do.

[Neely2005]

It's only illegal if Rogers files fraudulent financial info. Plenty of executives have issued public predictions that didn't come to fruition. And the way Rogers moves money around, they'll almost certainly never admit losing money on the NHL deal even if they do.

He was on the Investors Call discussing the just released Rogers Q1 results when he said that. Do you really think that he's going to risk lying on an Investors Call which is a matter of public record?

[argolio]

He was on the Investors Call discussing the just released Rogers Q1 results when he said that. Do you really think that he's going to risk lying on an Investors Call which is a matter of public record?

What risk? Again, it's very likely we'll never know if they end up losing money.

[R.J]

Rogers also originally stated that the Bill in Toronto Series was successful.

[Neely2005]

What risk? Again, it's very likely we'll never know if they end up losing money.

Giving false information to investors about a publicly traded company is punishable by the OSC & the SEC.

[argolio]

Giving false information to investors about a publicly traded company is punishable by the OSC & the SEC.

So why didn't anyone go after Rogers for lying through their teeth about the profitability of the Bills in Toronto games? Seems pretty obvious that those kinds of general statements to the public ("we made/are making money from this particular deal") don't rise to anything that is punishable by the OSC.

[jerrym]

Rogers also originally stated that the Bill in Toronto Series was successful.

In business, that's called marketing.

[AngeloV]

Also it's the regular season and playoff numbers that determine the return. Not just the playoffs.

All you need to do is look at the first round of the playoffs to know Rogers is losing a boat load of money on this deal. In the first round, despite showing all 8 series, they only used their own broadcast and production crews on 3 of the 8 series. They simulcasted local feeds on the other 5.

[PullTogether73]

All you need to do is look at the first round of the playoffs to know Rogers is losing a boat load of money on this deal. In the first round, despite showing all 8 series, they only used their own broadcast and production crews on 3 of the 8 series. They simulcasted local feeds on the other 5.

All that proves is that they are trying to save money on production costs.

Edit: the news story above in post #121 says that Rogers has production crews for 4 of the round 1 series, not 3 (not that this changes the production savings point materially).

[Will]

All that proves is that they are trying to save money on production costs.

I agree that it is only logical that Rogers would simulcast some of the series given that there are no Canadian teams involved, but you'd have to think that it was also motivated by the realization that no Canadian teams = trouble.

[R.J]

All you need to do is look at the first round of the playoffs to know Rogers is losing a boat load of money on this deal. In the first round, despite showing all 8 series, they only used their own broadcast and production crews on 3 of the 8 series. They simulcasted local feeds on the other 5.

TSN used to do that as well with the American teams. CBC is/was the only one to always use their own guys.

[jerrym]

The Rogers executive who signed Rogers hockey deal is now engaging in gallows humour.

With NHL playoff viewership down nearly two-thirds across Canada, the television executive who committed Toronto-based Sportsnet to a 12-year, multibillion-dollar broadcasting rights agreement joked how glad he was to have a third-floor office.
If Scott Moore considered jumping, "I would just sprain my ankle," the Sportsnet President told The Associated Press with a laugh during a telephone interview Friday.
"We're disappointed but we're not panicked," is how Moore assessed his reaction to the ratings returns a little over a week into the league's first post-season in 46 years without a Canadian team.
The first-round playoff series being broadcast on Sportsnet's cable channels and CBC drew an average of about 500,000 viewers from April 13-17. That's down from about 1.3 million over the same period last year, when five of Canada's seven teams were competing.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/no-canada-...9597--nhl.html

[jerrym]

NHL playoff TV ratings are still downward as the finals approach.

The ratings for the NHL playoffs are down from last year, and they might not get much better, considering who is still in contention.
When 1.1 million viewers watched the San Jose Sharks beat the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, it marked a 34 percent decrease from last year, as well as a 23 percent decrease in viewership from 2014. It was the least watched game of the conference finals since 2014.
Tuesday’s game wasn’t competitive, a 4-0 rout that was over with more than half of the third period still remaining. But the rating might not have been much higher had the game been close. Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning was seen by 1.7 million viewers, down eight percent from the 1.9 million viewers that watched Game 2 between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay last year.

http://www.ibtimes.com/nhl-playoffs-...finals-2371982