Monday, April 18, 2011

Media: Rogers plucks CTV's Pelley to head up media ops

By Jamie Sturgeon | Financial Post - CBC.ca | Aug. 18, 2010

TORONTO -- Billed as “one of the largest endeavours in Canadian television,” the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver arguably lived up to the hype, hitting a number of milestones while engaging record numbers of digital viewers.

The man overseeing the delivery of the Games to Canadians — and indeed the world — was former TSN president Keith Pelley. The Games’ success has translated into a personal triumph for the 46-year-old broadcast executive, who has been appointed head of media at Rogers Communications Inc., described as “the job” in Canadian television by some.

Rogers is the victor in a battle with CTVglobemedia Inc. over the broadcast executive, the former head of strategy for CTV who was said to be groomed as heir apparent to president Ivan Fecan.

“Quite a coup,” said one long-time media executive. “It was clear Keith was bright enough and capable enough to be the next Ivan there.”

Rogers declined comment Tuesday, but Mr. Pelley is doubtless being asked to replicate and advance the multiplatform vision he brought to the two companies’ joint Olympic venture last winter.

Operating in the shadow of Rogers’ telecom businesses is a stable of media assets consisting of the Citytv network, OMNI and Sportsnet channels, as well as dozens of radio stations and magazines. The Toronto Blue Jays baseball team round out a media division that accounted for less than 15% of Rogers’ $3.029-billion in revenue last quarter.

Leveraging that content across distribution platforms, either to attract more ad dollars or nurture customer loyalty through services like on-demand, has always been an aim but also a challenge.

Starting on Sept. 7 when retiring media chief Tony Viner hands him the reins, it will fall to Mr. Kelley to find ways to enhance content visibility and importantly Rogers brands, a trend many cable and Internet providers are pursuing.

“They’re pretty good assets but the idea is, they could be a lot more with the right person looking a little bit more to the future,” said another long-time media source.

Telecom services are undergoing convergence around a single standard — Internet Protocol (IP). It means providers are offering phone, TV and wireless services entirely digitally. Under this “new convergence” model, price is commoditized, meaning content and service differentiation matter more if not most.

“Content becomes a potential differentiator” for customers, Alan Sawyer, principal at Two Solitudes Consulting says.

U.S. cableco Comcast is acquiring broadcaster NBC-Universal under the banner while British Telecommunications Plc in the U.K. plans to introduce Project Canvas next year, a joint venture with the BBC and others to create on-demand, interactive content.

At home, Shaw Communications Inc.’s $2-billion acquisition of Canwest Broadcasting conjures up similar arguments.

There remains critics, but it is a strategy seemingly gaining ground, as Mr. Pelley’s appointment suggests.

As the Games endeavour showed, online video and the like can “perpetuate that customer relationship in the Internet space as a way of competing,” Mr. Sawyer says.

Financial Post
jasturgeon@nationalpost.com

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