By Etan Vlessing
TORONTO – In an annual upfront presentation short on traditional song and dance sales pitches, top executives at Rogers Sports & Media on Tuesday gave Canadian marketers and ad agencies a master class on big data and how advanced audience analytics will drive their multi-platform and device sales campaigns.
Division president Jordan Banks opened the broadcaster’s virtual show, which is an important pitch for ad dollars, by spotlighting a “massive transformation” in the organization after the pandemic accelerated consumption changes in the Canadian media landscape caused by cord-cutting and a shift in subscriber revenue to mostly foreign streaming platforms.
Banks said that had Rogers pivoting focus from traditional linear TV to “leveraging data and tech to position us for growth, success, and longevity.”
He explained data insights and automation technology will help create more and integrated stats and gaming features for Sportsnet Now subscribers, “personalized merchandising experiences” for TSC shoppers and social content for Rogers podcast and radio station listeners, as examples.
So expect more content integration, advanced advertising and digital partnerships from Rogers, with a focus on TV sports content.
After all, Rogers Sports & Media was rebranded from Rogers Media last year as the broadcaster doubled-down on sports, and this year the follow-on focus is on data-driven personalized coverage and content for TV audiences and advertisers.
Because nothing was impacted during the pandemic-era advertising recession quite like TV sports, with leagues and competitions cancelled or produced in socially-distanced Covid bubbles without fans in the stands, only to see ratings tumble.
This year, with the latest pandemic lockdowns lifting in Canada, Rogers has bet the farm on a recovery in TV viewership and ad revenue as live games are once again played against the backdrop of filled, or mostly filled stadiums and arenas. “Right now we’re in the middle of (NHL) playoff action and this Fall divisions will return to normal,” Sportsnet broadcaster Caroline Cameron announced during her appearance on the virtual presentation.
Alfredo Tan, senior vice president of strategy, data and products, told viewers personalized and premium content like social media and mobile content will be integrated into live game engagement on all digital platforms and devices. He even hinted at sports betting-related sponsorship as another revenue stream and advertising partnership for Rogers as Canadian broadcasters look to possibly follow the burgeoning U.S. sports betting industry down the road. (Canadian sports brands are waiting and hoping this bill is passed by the federal government, legalizing single event betting in Canada.)
“Imagine a sponsored bet on how many shots on goal the Oilers will get in the second period,” he ventured, as a marketer would keep a running tally on screen with their name and logo.
Elsewhere, Rogers worked with Microsoft during the pandemic to integrate the Microsoft Teams group chat software into Breakfast Television telecasts, and enlisted Amazon Web Services to use advanced analytics to insert player and puck traffic data into Hockey Night in Canada games telecasts.
“Creating experiences and premium content, connecting audiences and driving results for our partners is core to our DNA,” Alan Dark, senior vice president and chief revenue officer at Rogers Sports and Media, told marketers and agencies about creating fuller storylines about viewers and their engagement across multiple devices with sports and media content — for the benefit of advertisers.
“We’re trying to create an environment where teams are empowered to make decisions based on data, and act on that in ways that allow us to be wrong in a small way or achieve success and go a hundred times bigger.” – Jordan Banks, Rogers Sports & Media
Rogers will need that momentum from sports-hungry Canadians post-pandemic, as it has a big slice of its programming budget tied up in live games from NHL hockey, NBA basketball and Major League Baseball games, led by the Toronto Blue Jays matchups.
And rising viewership for TV sports post-pandemic will help Rogers offset continuing declines in linear TV audiences as Canadians opt for streaming alternatives like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Citytv, the conventional network and other traditional media in Rogers’ stable of assets, barely got a look in during the upfront presentation. Dark pointed to improved ratings for The Bachelor franchise, and Citytv audiences being up 11% year-over-year. City, however, has committed to relaunch Canada’s Got Talent next season. Please click here for its full slate of non-sports programming.
But Banks, Dark and other top Rogers execs – with a humble and somewhat humourless tone – stressed how they’re building a data analytics-driven engine for audience engagement and targeting that goes way beyond the traditional research like TV ratings and intuition behind selling airtime for primetime U.S. network series.
“Audience expectations have evolved. People want immediate, personalized and immersive experiences and our success hinges on our ability to deliver this seamlessly across all devices and all platforms 24/7,” Banks said during the presentation which was devoid of Hollywood star appearances from new and existing U.S. shows, free bars and buffets, or photo ops. (Ed note: They did send cookies to reporters the day before, which we very much appreciated.)
The real stars of Rogers’ 2021 pitch to marketers and advertisers were the engineers and digital gurus recently hired by the broadcaster to raise its game in performance marketing, data science and analytics and digital partnerships. So, rather than spotlight traditional partnerships and program buys with the Hollywood studios, Banks talked up talent recently poached from Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Coca Cola and IBM.
“We’re trying to create an environment where teams are empowered to make decisions based on data, and act on that in ways that allow us to be wrong in a small way or achieve success and go a hundred times bigger,” Banks said, as he painted a picture of top execs at Rogers making key decisions a million miles away from Hollywood studio lots and poolside cabanas as in earlier generations of Canadian TV.
