Rogers’ David Purdy lays out strategy to compete with Bell’s IPTV

It may not be long before Bell Canada’s Internet protocol television (IPTV) services take a significant bite out of Rogers Communications Inc.’s hold on the television distribution market in Central Canada. Bell is rolling out bundled fibre Internet and IPTV services to compete with Rogers, and the battle is starting to look something like the fight in Western Canada between Shaw Communications Inc.’s cable services and Telus Corp.’s fibre. Bell Canada’s fibre-to-the-node service gives the company coverage through approximately three million households in the Toronto and Montreal areas. Offered under the brand Bell Fibe TV, the IPTV service is gaining ground, and can be bundled with high-speed fibre Internet access. It was initially available to 500,000 households in two major cities, with the telco giant targeting an availability footprint of about one million households by mid-2011. In a Sept. 15 press release, Kevin Crull, president of Bell residential services, said the company hopes to make Fibe TV available to almost five million households by the end of 2015. But Rogers says it has a strategy to maintain its lead over competitors, particularly in the way of HD channels and video-on-demand. “Historically we’ve offered the most HD channels and the most HD choices because we’ve had more video-on-demand content than our competitors in the marketplace,” David Purdy, vice-president for digital television products at Rogers, said in an interview. “So it’s allowed us to own that higher ground, offering the most HD content. And we have a really robust video-on-demand service.” Right now, Rogers carries approximately 12,000 channels. Purdy estimated that at least 89 to 90 per cent of over-the-air broadcast content is made available on the company’s on-demand service. The company also emphasizes its online on-demand portal as an advantage to customers. “The primary thrust for us has been delivering a four ‘As’ strategy: Any content, any time, anywhere, on any device,” Purdy said. Purdy acknowledged that the future may lead Rogers to IPTV because it allows the user to take content and make it available across any device in “a seamless and easy to use fashion.” The company has rolled out more sophisticated cable boxes that are capable of more advanced navigation, including Internet features. Still, Purdy said Rogers sees no reason to rush towards IP. “The primary reason for us is that there in no inherent benefit to IP from a user perspective,” Purdy said. “Our focus isn’t so much on rolling out IP-based set-top boxes as it is making sure we have robust content, and that the content is available on-demand on any device.” Purdy said Rogers also has a multicultural strategy on its HD and on-demand services, offering up to 100 multicultural channels. “Forty four per cent of our customers speak a language at home other than English or French,” Purdy said. “So having Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, Italian and Portuguese, etc., all that programming has been a real plus for us and our strategy would be to continue to build upon that.” Purdy said Rogers’ hopes to offer multicultural on-demand choices just as it offers on-demand English choices. According to a Rogers corporate fact sheet, the company now serves 2.3 million basic cable subscribers and five million cable units. Its most popular TV package is VIP, which includes the company’s digital basic and digital plus packages, as well as 33 specialty channels, sports and reality TV channels, 52 HD channels and thousands of movies on-demand. The VIP package is priced at $64 per month. Although Rogers does not appear to feel threatened by Bell’s IPTV rollout, Scotia Capital analyst Jeff Fan said in an interview that eventually Bell’s Fibe TV service is going to take away some of Rogers’ cable customers, particularly in urban markets that may not lend themselves to good satellite reception. “In the core urban markets, where ... may not be available for satellite or cable service, Bell will be able to use some of its IPTV to take out some of the Rogers cable subscriber database,” Fan said. Bell’s Fibe TV service includes 100 HD channels, over 70 international channels, more than 1,000 on-demand movies and television series, as well as the company’s “Whole Home PVR” feature for recording across all set-top boxes in the home. Bell has also announced that remote PVR features will be made available soon with smartphone access. Some subscribers have reported that Bell’s IP television set-up is more aesthetically pleasing and easier to use. The Bell receivers enable one master box to conduct all desired recording. Another preferred feature is that any of Bell’s units in the home allow viewers to watch any program at any time. A user can begin watching a program on one receiver, pause it, and continue on a different television in the home. Rogers' programming guide, according to reports, can look only about six days into the future, but Bell’s service can search up to 10 days’ worth of programming. Unlike cable, where the number of channels depends on the number of receivers, IPTV allows for multiple channels to be broadcast simultaneously into the home. Bell’s IPTV packages range from $30 to $105 per month. For an average Canadian household, Bell’s Fibe service is expected to cost about $150 per month for a bundled package including high-speed fibre Internet, home telephone and IPTV services over a period of 12 months. Maher Yaghi, a telecom analyst for Desjardins Securities, said in an interview that cable service providers will continue to have the upper-hand, in part through a better channel lineup and more HD channels. Bell was not available for comment for this story by deadline. dgrenier@thewirereport.ca

Rogers’ David Purdy lays out strategy to compete with Bell’s IPTV

Broadcast | May 5, 2011

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Rogers’ David Purdy lays out strategy to compete with Bell’s IPTV

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