‘I can’t believe there’s any media buyer in the country who doesn’t think this is a good outcome,’ says Bruce Claasen, CEO of Genesis Media.

He’s talking, of course, about the sudden announcement last evening that Rogers Media has ponied up $375 million to solve the dilemma foisted on CTVglobemedia last week by the CRTC — namely, that CGM’s acquisition of CHUM properties could proceed only if the five Citytv stations (Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver) were chopped out of the $1.7-billion deal.

‘In a single move, Rogers has become a fourth television network in Canada,’ Claasen explains. ‘Six months ago, they owned a couple of specialty channels and that was an interesting dabble. But now they’re actually a player. That’s an incredible achievement, but the funny thing is, it wasn’t even their own initiative. It was the CTV deal that put Rogers in play.’

David Campbell, president of media agency MBS, amplifies the point, saying the deal ‘creates another strong broadcasting presence in the country, which we sorely needed because [with CGM looking to own the Citys] it had turned, certainly in English Canada, into a duopoly.’

We’ll probably never know how long Rogers had this chess move in mind. But Rogers Broadcasting president Rael Merson nailed its significance, stating that the deal ‘gives Rogers an instant and significant television presence in the largest markets in the country and is a natural complement to our existing television broadcasting and specialty assets.’

It’s partly the breadth of Rogers Media’s assets — and the opportunities they offer for big-time synergies — that makes the news so welcome to the media community. A division of Rogers Communications, it operates both Rogers Publishing and Rogers Broadcasting, which has 51 AM and FM radio stations across Canada. Television properties include multicultural television broadcaster Rogers OMNI Television; the Shopping Channel, a televised and electronic shopping service; and Rogers Sportsnet. Then there’s Rogers Publishing, which includes major consumer magazines Maclean’s, Chatelaine, Flare, L’actualité and Canadian Business, as well as industry, medical and financial pubs. All these media properties are integrated with Rogers websites.

Additionally, Rogers Media owns The Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club and the Rogers Centre sports and entertainment facility.

But it’s also Rogers’ proven marketing savvy and professionalism that’s exciting media professionals. ‘Rogers has a great track record, and I think virtually all the agencies have had very good relationships with them,’ says Campbell. ‘They’re very professionally run and managed.’

The question now is how should Rogers proceed if the CRTC approves its purchase of the City stations, which seems likely.

‘My big hope would be that they would maintain the culture of the City stations and their approach to business, which has in the past been quite different in many respects from that of other broadcasters,’ says Hugh Dow, president of M2 Universal. ‘It’s very important for them to keep their personality. That’s what made the City stations an attractive buy for many advertisers, and particularly for the target groups they reached, which tended to be younger audiences. So I’d like to see them continue the tradition of City being a kind of entrepreneurial and promotionally oriented broadcaster that [is] prepared to work with the advertising community to develop innovative and different approaches to reaching their target audiences.’

From Media in Canada