UPDATED: Independent Broadcast Group backs Corus in dispute with Rogers over channel placement

The Independent Broadcast Group has filed an intervention with the CRTC siding with Corus Entertainment Inc. in a dispute with Rogers Communications Inc. At the heart of the matter is the repositioning of channels on Rogers’ cable systems. Rogers took a series of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. franchises away from Corus and BCE Inc.’s Bell Media last June. This month, the channels, including HGTV and The Food Network, began broadcasting as Rogers’ properties. Corus has since raised its charges of undue preference in Part 1 submission filed Dec. 10. It said it received a notice in October that Rogers was planning to move the channels out of the existing positions. By not putting Corus' Flavour and Home in the positions previously held by Corus-owned Food and HGTV, Rogers is engaging in a “bait and switch,” Corus alleges. In response to the channel swap, Corus launched the Home Network and the Flavour Network, touting in a January announcement the availability of content on food, cooking, home design, decor, and real estate. In its most recent submission on the Corus Part 1 following that announcement, Rogers said the purpose of the channel realignment is to avoid confusion between Corus' new Home and Flavour brands and the HGTV and Food Network services Rogers has launched, noting that as of early January, its two services carry the "vast majority" of the Warner Bros. Discovery programming for those two brands -- including a new seasons of several shows. "The channel realignments were meant to avoid customer misperception (and corresponding dissatisfaction) that: (a) Rogers had unilaterally removed HGTV and Food Network from customers’ television packages and replaced them with less recognized brands such as Home and Flavour; and/or (b) HGTV and Food Network had been rebranded to Home and Flavour," Rogers said. The Independent Broadcast Group made arguments in support of Corus in an intervention. “If actions as described by Corus are substantiated by the commission, such actions could well constitute a breach of section 9 of the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations and of section 10 of the Wholesale Code,” the Independent Broadcast Group (IBG) wrote in its intervention dated Jan. 23. Section 9 pertains to not giving undue preference to one’s own channels. Section 10 states a programming service shall be given comparable marketing support as similar services. IBG lawyer Joel Fortune dismissed Rogers’ argument, made in one of its own replies to the proceeding, that the CRTC does not have jurisdiction over channel positioning. The regulator intervened when OUTtv Inc. was relegated to the adult services section of the system, Fortune noted. A broadcast distribution undertaking (BDU) can use positioning to help or hinder a network, the IBG argued. “Channel positioning is, without a doubt, an issue that could properly be subject to preferential dealing or disadvantageous behavior by a BDU,” the group asserts. Corus also states that it heard from some advertising clients that Rogers' affiliated media division, RSM, advised them of its intention to launch new discretionary services under the newly-acquired Food and HGTV brands in the "slots occupied by Corus’ Food/Flavour and HGTV/Home services." “Moreover, we understand RSM has sent letters to BDUs across the country instructing them not to characterize Flavour and Home as rebrands of Food and HGTV, respectively, even including a veiled threat of legal action if they were to do so," Corus said. For its part, Rogers argues its actions have been necessary to protect its investment in the new properties. Rogers notes that in letters to BDUs, it said that “referring to Bell’s or Corus’ newly branded channels as ‘rebrands’ of the Discovery Channels will cause confusion among customers and may even accelerate cord-cutting when they cannot find the premium Discovery content on those services.” It then said that to avoid “any potential legal claims,” BDUs should avoid referring to the programming changes to the other broadcasters’ related channels as rebrands. Rogers additionally calls Corus’ claims about a lack of comparable marketing assault “ironic” in the face of legal action it said Corus took in December, in the form of a cease-and-desist letter. “It is ironic that Corus has claimed that Rogers failed to meet its obligations to provide ‘comparable marketing support’ to Home and Flavour, given that Corus actively suppressed Rogers’ efforts to market HGTV and Food Network,” Rogers argues. Rogers said Corus looked to block its use of the HGTV and Food Network trademarks in on-air advertisements, the purpose of which it says was to “counter the false narrative/customer confusion that HGTV and Food Network would be going away after Corus’ launch of Home and Flavour,” Rogers states. Those ads had to be taken down due to the cease-and-desist letter. “The advertisements in question did not include any Rogers branding…and simply encouraged customers to contact their television provider to subscribe to HGTV and Food Network.” READ MORE: – Rogers wants Corus’ undue preference allegations dismissed by CRTC – WildBrain accuses Rogers of unfair treatment of its children’s programming Rogers also argued that by taking on Corus’ complaint, particularly without also expediting the proceeding’s timeline, “Corus received the very relief it was seeking.” “Rogers was prohibited from implementing the channel realignments of Home and Flavour on December 30, 2024 and was forced to employ other, less optimal strategies to communicate the new channel numbers of HGTV and Food Network to our customers beginning on January 1, 2025.” A handful of interventions were filed by members of the public and were upset about the change. Milched Annette Fleming of Chilliwack, B.C. was upset about their favourite channels. “HGTV, Cooking Channel, Food Network and Magnolia TV are all long-term, established products that I have and pay for in my contract with my TV service provider,” Fleming said in a hand-written intervention. “In August 2024 I renewed my contract and was not informed of the pending loss of these channels.” Victor Miranda of Wainwright, Alta. said Telus Corp. does not carry the new Rogers stations on their service. The Rogers cable system is not available in their district, they added. ppark@thewirereport.ca Editor's note: This article has been updated to correctly reflect when the channels began broadcasting as Rogers' properties and which properties it holds, as well as for clarity.

UPDATED: Independent Broadcast Group backs Corus in dispute with Rogers over channel placement

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By Paul Park
| January 29, 2025

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UPDATED: Independent Broadcast Group backs Corus in dispute with Rogers over channel placement

Broadcast | By Paul Park | January 29, 2025

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