WildBrain accuses Rogers of unfair treatment of its children’s programming

Halifax-based DHX Television Ltd., which operates as WildBrain Television, is accusing Rogers Communications Inc. of giving preferential treatment to its competitors. According to WildBrain, which distributes children’s programming through Family Channel, Family Jr., WildBrain TV and French-language service Télémagino, it found that the cable giant has given particular “emphasis” to promotion of Walt Disney Co.’s Disney+ and Corus Entertainment Inc.’s YTV and Treehouse services to customers. WildBrain made its arguments in a Part 1 application filed with the CRTC in September but made public just this week. WildBrain points to Rogers’ offer of ad-supported Disney+ subscriptions for its broadcasting distribution undertaking (BDU) customers at no additional cost to customers, as part of its “Popular TV” and “Ultimate TV” bundles with internet service. “Access to Disney+ is available directly through the electronic programming guide on Rogers' set-top boxes, using the same guide and interface that subscribers access programming from BDU-delivered services, such as the WildBrain Services,” WildBrain states. WildBrain argues this shows Disney+ gets better treatment than its own children’s programming does, because Disney+ is “marketed prominently” in the bundled TV/internet offers, while WildBrain’s services are now offered in Rogers’ “theme packs” and do not benefit from that kind of prominence or marketing exposure. Rather, WildBrain states, its services are now offered in Rogers’ theme packs that require subscribers to opt to get specific programming and are not included in “all in” larger bundled offers in which Disney+ is offered. WildBrain notes that the YTV and Treehouse Corus services are the only children’s TV services shown as available through Rogers’ non-thematic channel packaging structure, other than Disney+. It also notes it otherwise competes against Corus’ Disney-branded channels, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Nickelodeon services. The children’s programmer argues that providing the Disney+ ad-supported (known as standard) access as an “essentially ‘free’” service to subscribers “advantages this service for marketing purposes with subscribers who perceive that they are receiving free content.” “A subscriber that is offered the Disney+ standard service ‘for free’ with their bundled Ignite offer from Rogers could forgo subscribing to the thematic children's service package in which the WildBrain Services are offered – and Rogers' offer pushes subscribers to make this pre-empted choice,” WildBrain alleges. In addition to its programming, the Disney+ service is also comparable to WildBrain in terms of presentation and program discoverability within set-top boxes, as well as accessibility to subscribers, WildBrain states. Disney+ makes available a “substantial stream of well-known children’s programming” WildBrain states, including content that was originally made for television and well-known children’s movies and series. That roster includes programming that was made well-known to Canadian audiences through Canadian children’s TV services, including in some instances on WildBrain’s Family channel and its other services, before Disney decided to launch its own branded channels in Canada through Corus, WildBrain states. While the Halifax-based distributor says it does not object to a company like Rogers offering a service such as Disney+, what it does find objectionable is “providing substantial and tangible opportunities and exposure for certain services while effectively removing such opportunities for other services.” A spokesperson for Rogers told The Wire Report that it is “focused on meeting our customers’ changing viewing habits and providing Canadians with the content they want on their platform of choice. “Viewership of children’s content is increasingly moving to on-demand platforms and we are committed to ensuring customers have more options to watch the content they want, how they want it,” the spokesperson said. They added that Rogers will file a reply to the CRTC as part of the proceeding. Not the first complaint alleging preference for Disney+ Corus has already raised allegations of undue preference against Rogers related to Disney+ – complaints which Rogers has asked the CRTC to dismiss. Corus hinged its complaint on Rogers’ promotion of Disney+ to its customers by way of free access to the streaming platform for Rogers clients, distributed as part of its Ignite Streaming online undertaking, and bundling the ad-supported version of Disney+ with traditional programing packages through Rogers’ BDUs. Corus alleges Rogers’ actions put Corus’ Disney-themed channels at a disadvantage when subscribers search for content because of promoted free access to Disney+ on Rogers’ electronic program guide, “directly below the program listings for the Corus Disney channels.” In its response, Rogers points to precedent for such a dismissal in a previous decision by the CRTC to dismiss allegations of undue preference from Bell before considering the claims within that company’s application because it did not include enough relevant evidence proving the comparability of the services. Rogers also pointed to other limited-time subscription offers it made for other streaming services, such as Apple TV+. “Expecting BDUs to defend these promotional offers, and in the absence of clear evidence of direct and tangible harm identified by a complainant, would set a very dangerous precedent that would deter service innovation, reduce choice, and increase prices within the Canadian broadcasting system,” Rogers wrote. “There is no basis to find that Rogers or any other BDU has conferred an undue preference simply by virtue of providing access to a highly popular third-party app, like Disney+, on its platform,” Rogers wrote. “Such an outcome would amount to an extremely regressive form of regulatory intervention that would prevent the Canadian broadcasting system from evolving and modernizing to the detriment of Canadian consumers.” hdaley@thewirereport.ca

WildBrain accuses Rogers of unfair treatment of its children’s programming

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By Hannah Daley
| January 21, 2025

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