Rogers abandoned Vancouver sports fans with one devastating decision

Last week, Rogers Communications silenced my beloved Sportsnet 650. They weren't the only stations to disappear. Sportsnet 960 in Calgary, along with four news radio stations across the country, were also shuttered.

Sportsnet 650 was part of my morning routine. As soon as I woke up, I would insert my left AirPod then open my Sportsnet App to listen to Halford and Brough. They were with me through breakfast and accompanied me on my 25-minute walk to work. I've been that guy who, on three occasions, has walked directly into the pole of a street sign when engrossed in an off-air text conversation with them.

Canucks Talk, or the third hour of Halford and Brough, would accompany me on my walk home. After a long and stressful day, listening to a well-timed Simpson's drop, the "What We Learned" jingle, a Jamie Dodd run-on sentence, a Thomas Drance soliloquy, or the answer to a ridiculous "Ask Us Anything" was therapeutic.

And I'm not the only one. This is a sampling of the hundreds of posts from non-media people across all social media platforms who incorporated the content from Sportsnet 650 into their daily lives.

Rogers' explanation doesn't tell the whole story

In a statement made by Rogers Sports & Media, a subsidiary of the parent company, the "difficult" (scoff) and "necessary" (gag) decision forcing 230 people into unemployment was driven by "declining advertising revenue and changing audience habits".

Amongst the corporate jargon in the statement, they failed to mention that they made $438 million in profit in the last quarter. They neglected to mention that they receive millions in taxpayer funding to promote the creation of jobs, especially at the local level. They also missed the federal government protects them against competition entering the Canadian market, they have yet to deliver on the promise of generating 3,000 new jobs in Western Canada in exchange for approving the Rogers-Shaw merger, and that the annual bonuses and stock awards for the executives at Rogers Communications total approximately $17 million and in 2022 following the merger with Shaw. Tony Staffieri, the CEO, was paid $31.5 million.

I understand that the company has responsibilities to its shareholders. They cannot sink money into ventures that consistently lose money. I also understand that AM radio is dying. Listener habits have changed. Technology has made radios obsolete. And most vehicles are being made without AM antennae.

However, was there any consideration to modifying the programming, either in delivery or structure, to preserve the flow of information while minimizing your losses? Did you reach out to a listener focus group? Did you contact any of the Canucks social media groups (for example r/canucks on Reddit)? Did you connect with any of the on-air personalities or Cam Barra, the program director to brainstorm ideas and solutions? Or was it simply the out-of-touch executives with bonus-laiden contracts sitting in the boardroom of the 333 Bloor Street East penthouse admiring the view of their favourite city making an unsophisticated and rash decision based on a multipage report of numbers and graphs?

Because realistically, it would have taken an infinitesimal fraction of the hundreds of millions in earnings and subsidies to experiment for one to two years with different iterations of the product.

The alternatives Rogers should have explored

With the impending demise of AM radio, there was an option to move the entire operation to a sub-channel of Jack FM, a station already owned by Rogers.

The CRTC recently modernized its radio processes to allow programs to be simulcast on AM and FM radio stations. Did you consider a hybrid model where the two top rated shows in addition to the Canucks' pre- and post-game shows remained on air (even on the FM station)? The rest could be national programming originating from Sportsnet 590.

Sportsnet 650 just went through the expense of moving studios. How about broadcasting the entire catalogue digitally? The shows could have been streamed live on social media and video platforms, then be made available in podcast form. This would have saved the company the enormous costs to operate the transmitter.

Could you have kept everything the same but monetize the content on the podcasts? As much as I enjoyed listening to "a radio hour" in 40-45 minutes, I would have tolerated some advertising if it meant keeping the station afloat.

You can't be so obtuse in failing to see the irony here. Your priorities lie with supporting an Ontario-centric agenda while neglecting a massive proportion of your customer base despite branding the company as "Canada's communications, sports, & entertainment company."

Vancouver sports fans can respond

I am NOT suggesting a boycott of the Vancouver Canucks or Sportsnet Pacific. Continue to watch, listen, stream, and support them in every way that you did before Rogers wielded their cruelty.

Continue to voice your displeasure with Rogers; on every social media platform and every time a sales person from Rogers cold calls you. Encourage your neighbours and friends to do the same.

Most importantly, lobby your elected representatives at the provincial and federal level. The Honourable Mr. David Eby, M.L.A., Premier of British Columbia wrote:

But Mr. Premier, this is trite if not followed up on. It's time to revoke the tax breaks and subsidies for Rogers Communications. It's time to threaten their broadcasting license unless they fulfill their agreement of creating 3,000 jobs in Western Canada. It's time to welcome competition within the national telecommunication landscape to not allow companies like Rogers Communications to form a monopoly and hold your electorate hostage.

Sportsnet 650 deserved a better ending

The talent at Sportsnet 650 is too good to be stifled. And I'm certain that they will return into our digital worlds and daily routines on the other side of this nonsense.

Nevertheless, the cumulative power of the consumers and politicians have to send a loud enough message that travels halfway across the country and echoes into the Rogers Communications boardroom: decisions like this have consequences. You cannot collect the privileges afforded to you by this country only to then demonstrate complete disregard for major parts of it. If you prioritize a minute fraction of your profits over what Canadians value, it is going to cost you.

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