- paterson1
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
CTV News Network Power Play had this as the lead story for the first 13 minutes at 5pm. This included analysis from BNN Bloomberg's David Cosh and two industry critics from the Conservatives and NDP. So now the picking apart of the deal is happening. Power and Politics on CBC gave it three minutes with analysis and it was the third story. The second hour of Power and Politics has much more analysis and three newspaper writers who have been covering the story. Both networks have had the merger as one of the top stories all day.
You seem critical about Rogers (City News 680?) hammering this story all day. Yet you have been doing the same thing since 7:37am this morning. In fact of the 18 posts on this thread, you have been 12 of them and all quite one sided. And over the past year you have initiated almost all of the threads on the merger.
The MMVA's were a little more than the parking lot. They would block Queen Street in front of the building with the red carpet and block John St . with one of the stages. Maybe you didn't actually watch the show? The set up on the streets likely started to be built on Friday evening with the parking lot stage weeks before.
Citytv, CTV and CBC covered the story because hundreds kids had been lining up and camping around the building for 3 or 4 days prior to the show hoping to get wristbands. Also media was covering the MMVA's because of the talent that was lined up for the broadcast. You are off base, this was a big news story. It was all over newspapers too, even front page a few times on Monday as I recall.
The shameless self promotion comments are off the mark. Both of these examples were news stories.
Last edited by paterson1 (March 31, 2023 6:33 pm)
- Forward Power
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
I am on RA's side on this issue. There is NO NEED for self promotion in newscasts, or letting advertisers control your news content. Screw the Rogers-Shaw deal. Screw the Jays. Screw Bell Let's Talk. Screw Corus Feeds Kids. Screw whatever CSR thing Stingray does. Just knock it off already. THEY ARE NOT NEWSWORTHY!!!!!
Oh, and McHappy Day and Camp Day are definitely not newsworthy, nor are they worthy of having on-air talent on location.
Last edited by Forward Power (March 31, 2023 6:44 pm)
- RadioActive
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
paterson1 wrote:
CTV News Network Power Play had this as the lead story for the first 13 minutes at 5pm. This included analysis from BNN Bloomberg's David Cosh and two industry critics from the Conservatives and NDP. So now the picking apart of the deal is happening. Power and Politics on CBC gave it three minutes with analysis and it was the third story. The second hour of Power and Politics has much more analysis and three newspaper writers who have been covering the story. Both networks have had the merger as one of the top stories all day.
You seem critical about Rogers (City News 680?) hammering this story all day. Yet you have been doing the same thing since 7:37am this morning. In fact of the 18 posts on this thread, you have been 12 of them and all quite one sided. And over the past year you have initiated almost all of the threads on the merger.
The MMVA's were a little more than the parking lot. They would block Queen Street in front of the building with the red carpet and block John St . with one of the stages. Maybe you didn't actually watch the show? The set up on the streets likely started to be built on Friday evening with the parking lot stage weeks before.
Citytv, CTV and CBC covered the story because hundreds kids had been lining up and camping around the building for 3 or 4 days prior to the show hoping to get wristbands. Also media was covering the MMVA's because of the talent that was lined up for the broadcast. You are off base, this was a big news story. It was all over newspapers too, even front page a few times on Monday as I recall.
The shameless self promotion comments are off the mark. Both of these examples were news stories.
There's a big difference between an all news channel, which has tons of time to fill, to a news wheel on 680 or a 6 PM hourly newscast. I noticed that while CFTO teased it off the top of their 6 o'clock news, they didn't actually get to it until 11 minutes later. So while it was a big story, it obviously wasn't that big in the minds of their producers. It was also, by that point 9 and a half hours old. Hardly putting the "new" in news.
As for the Much Awards, I'm not arguing they weren't a big deal. The station put a lot of money into it. But to make it the lead precisely because it's a boon to the company taints it. It should definitely be covered and I never suggested it shouldn't be. Just maybe not the lead item.
And of course the other stations covered it, when big stars come to town. But they almost certainly didn't lead with it.
As for me hammering it all day, yep, when I see a wrong I want to right it or at least complain about it. That's what this board is for. But surely you're not comparing SOWNY to a CityNews 680? I certainly don't look at it that way. (And no, I'm not calling you Shirley!) This is a very bad deal for consumers, although I confess it won't affect me because I refuse to do business with Bell or Rogers as a matter of principle.
So when I see a company I view as somewhat evil getting bigger and potentially in a position to have more power and greed over people, I'm pretty angry.
It's also personal. Some years ago, my brother in Calgary switched his cell phone service to Shaw to get away from Rogers and he was happy he did. But now he's going to find himself right back in their path. I suppose Telus or Bell will be his major choice for now if he still wants to avoid Big Red. Maybe Freedom Mobile if it comes to Alberta. But he's not happy about this, either.
And I can tell you he's not alone. I've heard from several SOWNY members offline who are furious about this, noting The Competition Bureau, communications experts and several media advocacy groups have all warned about this - and all those complaints fell on deaf ears.
The fix was in on this thing right from the start. And now it's consumers who are in a new fix. Sorry, but there's no amount of explaining from Champagne or others who will ever convince me this is good for Canadians - you remember them? The ones these dunderheads in Ottawa were elected to serve. I guess they didn't have as many lobbyists and campaign contributors.
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Thread Starter- paterson1
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
I think it is too soon to say if this is bad for consumers. We really don't know that. If people are that upset then move your service to another smaller operator. You did, so can they. I have a few friends that moved away from the big players. Some were happy with the independents, some weren't.
Companies don't usually give discounts or take less money for you being a good customer. They should but don't. Good customers get some perks or freebies but not permanent discount rates. Yes you shouldn't have to threaten to quit to get a better deal with the phone or cable company.
But you also shouldn't have to negotiate and threaten to go to another dealer to get a better price on a new car. Just give me the best price in the first place. I have been a great customer for my insurance company with no claims, so why does my rate never go down? If I want to pay less, I will need to shop around and then threaten my insurance company if they want my business.
Freedom Mobile is in Alberta in urban centres so your brother should be able to switch to them if he wants to.
- RadioAaron
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
There are almost no consumers who are losing a significant choice from this.
- RadioQuiz
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
In the end - which big corporation owns these assets is not relevant. Its just a big company trying to get a return for shareholders so we can expect a non consumer approach to everything they do (even if they try or have a fancy vision statement).
What matters is the regulation, which in Canada we have been traditionally poor at. We should be able to have a real simple mission that Canada should not pay the highest rates for services in the world. Likely being the lowest is also not achievable. I'm sure ChatGPT could tell us what would be fair and reasonable compared to the G8. Then we should regulate the shit out of that.
- paterson1
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
You seem critical about Rogers (City News 680?) hammering this story all day. Yet you have been doing the same thing since 7:37am this morning. In fact of the 18 posts on this thread, you have been 12 of them and all quite one sided. And over the past year you have initiated almost all of the threads on the merger.
You’re comparing posts on a forum to a 24-hour news station? Really? If you don’t think 680 and 590
alter their lineup to reflect their own properties in a favourable way, then I have some Florida swampland to sell to you. I’ve lost track of the number of Rogers’ sports “leads” that end with “you can watch/listen tonight on ‘our station’ at xpm” when more important stories are shuffled back.
The proposed merger had been in the news off and on nationally for two years. When the decision came out yesterday for much of the day it was either the lead or second story for the television news channels. None of them owned by Rogers. Beyond the actual story, CTV CBC and CP24 also had a lot of additional analysis with guests delving into the details of the deal, all day long.
I don't understand why some have such a problem that City News 680 had this as the lead story most of the day or from 9-5 yesterday. It was still a major story at 5pm yesterday with all other competing media nationally and locally. Rogers is one of Toronto's largest head office companies with thousands of employees in the city, so their local stations naturally would give this story top billing. It would have been a surprise if they hadn't.
Whether an individual hates Rogers or has something personal against them is not the point. The merger was one of the major business stories in Canada in years and one of the largest ever. City News 680 is much closer to the story than Newstalk 1010 or 640, so yes they are going to give this prominence. I don't know what was on Sportsnet 590 and frankly don't care. Why covering the story automatically makes 680 reflect their company in a positive light is an assumption. What I heard they seemed to be reporting the story straightforward and of course they are going to say that Rogers owns City News 680.
In terms of the cross promotion during or at the end of a newscast or sports, everyone does this. Even CBC.
Last edited by paterson1 (April 1, 2023 7:58 pm)
- RadioActive
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
I think it is too soon to say if this is bad for consumers. We really don't know that. If people are that upset then move your service to another smaller operator. You did, so can they. I have a few friends that moved away from the big players. Some were happy with the independents, some weren't.
There are almost no consumers who are losing a significant choice from this.
Ah, but as the Bard once said, "there's the rub."
The Rogers and Bells are taking over the independents and swallowing them whole, leaving only a very few left. If this continues, they will be overwhelmed by the competition and either purchased by the bigger fish or crushed out of existence altogether. My current provider, Teksavvy, has long noted it's one of the few indies left. And it worries that this endless merging and takeover mania will eventually see it, too, disappear, thanks to government policies that seem to encourage their extinction.
Which is exactly what the Bells and the Rogers of this country want. So it's certainly arguable that if this is allowed to continue, there will, in fact, be less choice. Because there already is.
"A lack of independent ISPs harms internet users across the country. Indies should be aggressively competing on affordability and service to win us over. Instead, small players are struggling to stay alive, while Big Telecom isn’t competing at all — they’re just buying everyone out.
We’re almost out of time. If something doesn’t change now, our fate is decided. At the rate small ISPs are being gobbled up, there may not be any left by the end of the year."
Canada’s small internet providers — and choice — are dying at the hands of Ottawa and the CRTC
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Thread Starter- Tomas Barlow
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
there was an undertone of glee in their coverage that was hard to miss. This is one story where I don't trust the reporting of CityNews.
Can you give a specific an example? Your bias frequently comes through as you post things like this and you sometimes offer opinion or vagueness in place of facts which are readily available. Quite frankly, I don't trust your version of the facts most of the time. What does an "undertone of glee" sound like on an all news station? I have never heard of such a thing.
This is a terrible decision for a huge number of reasons and nearly everyone is disappointed, but don't use that disappointment to smear the anchors and reporters who work for Rogers. My guess is they either don't care or don't agree with what has happened because when Rogers spends this type of money it means job losses for many employees.
Last edited by Tomas Barlow (April 2, 2023 1:35 am)
- Shorty Wave
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
I wonder if this will work out better for Rogers than the $5.4 billion NHL deal they have been losing money on since signing it. And yes, the fact that it hasn’t turned out well is fairly obvious as Rogers has been tight lipped on the R.O.I. on that one.
I feel for all the Shaw employees about to lose their jobs, regardless of the conditions the Feds gave Rogers, that will happen as that’s what Rogers does when they buy a company, speaking from experience.
- RadioActive
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
You are right. One of the provisions laid down by the feds is that Rogers has to create 3,000 jobs in Calgary. What it doesn't say is where those jobs are going to come from. There's nothing at all to stop them from telling employees in Toronto that if they don't want to move to Calgary, their jobs will disappear.
Sadly, I know far too many now ex-Rogers workers who have lost their gigs for less. It's one of the reasons I dislike the company so much. There is no moral compass at that place. I feel sorry for those who are about to find themselves on the street.
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Thread Starter- pinto
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
How many employees does Shaw have? Move 3000 of them to Calgary under the new deal and poof!! Jobs created from people who would have been laid off.
My google search shows that currently Shaw has around 9000 people. Bodes well... not.
- RadioActive
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Re: Disastrous Deal Done: It's Official. Rogers Gobbles Up Shaw
Think of this as you're paying your over-inflated cell phone bill this month.
Top Rogers executives to receive $17M in bonuses tied to Shaw deal — including $8M for CEO Tony Staffieri
Alternate link:
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