Rogers Communications Inc. plans to introduce mobile sports apps akin to the successful smartphone apps developed by Score Media Inc., which Rogers has bid $167-million to acquire.
?I think you?ll see it by Q1,? Keith Pelley, head of the company?s media division said Thursday at a breakfast with reporters.
Rogers bid for the Score on Aug. 25, agreeing to acquire the independent media company?s television holdings, led by The Score network. The deal, however, did not include the firm?s digital assets, instead, Rogers is taking a 10% interest in the remaining digital business.
As part of the deal, Rogers has been granted ?immediate? access to Score?s mobile technology which includes access to blueprints and other data related to Score?s mobile app business.
Analysts at Byron Capital Markets say Rogers has worked out a three-year ?white label? deal with Score, bringing the service over under its own branding. Apps will be available to wireless customers of Rogers, the largest carrier in the country with more than 9.3 million subscribers.
Score Media will spin out its mobile app business and related digital properties into a new entity, Score Digital, ahead of the closing of the deal, which still requires shareholder and regulatory approval. Its not immediately clear whether its own apps will be unavailable to customers of other wireless carriers in Canada.
If so, the apps will be a differentiating service for Rogers Wireless, which has lost momentum in recent quarters relative to incumbent competitors BCE Inc. and Telus Corp., which have invested heavily in recent years to catch up to Rogers.
Rogers has pumped about $12-million into the digital assets, which Score Media has been funding with cash flows from its television operations.
Mr. Pelley said he expected the acquisition to close this year and for the integration of the Score network with Rogers? Sportsnet properties to be completed by mid-2013. No branding from the Score will be carried over, the executive said in an earlier discussion last week.
ScoreMobile, ScoreMobileFC and Sportap, which stream scores and news to smartphones, had 3.5 million monthly unique users last quarter combined, up 46%. Advertising from the mobile assets generated $1.1-million in revenue, up 37% year on year. Heavy investment in the mobile unit however has produced losses of late.
Though losing money, analysts are bullish on the services? ability to ramp up ad sales. Mr. Pelley noted Thursday Rogers also stands to gain if a U.S. heavyweight such as ESPN decides to acquire Score Digital.
Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/09/06/rogers-readies-mobile-sports-apps-following-score-bid/
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