Regulatory, Telecom and Media News – Former Rogers CEO Joe Natale sues for wrongful dismissal

Rogers Communications is being sued by former CEO Joe Natale for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract over his ouster during the 2021 family power struggle for control of the company led by Edward Rogers. Natale’s statement of claim, filed in Ontario Superior Court, seeks $24 million in damages, including $4 million related to an unpaid bonus due upon closure of Rogers’ acquisition of Shaw Communications, under terms of his employment contract. A former TELUS CEO, Natale served as Rogers’ CEO from 2017 to Nov. 2021, when current President & CEO Tony Staffieri was appointed to the role. Read more here.

TVO journalists and producers, represented by the Canadian Media Guild (CMG), walked off the job at 10:30 a.m. ET Monday. Without a contract since October of last year, the union had warned that its members at the Ontario public broadcaster would be in a legal strike position as of last Friday, with the bargaining team unable to come to agreement with the Ontario government on issues including the phasing out of permanent positions and salaries that CMG says aren’t keeping pace with the rising cost of living in Toronto. “While it is unfortunate that we have not yet been able to come to a collective bargaining agreement with our CMG employees, TVO Media Education Group remains committed to continuing discussions with CMG and finding a resolution,” said Jeffrey L. Orridge, CEO of TVO, in a statement. “We are ready to meet with CMG at any time and we remain confident that we can bring this to a resolution that works for both parties. We look forward to continuing our work together to bring important current affair journalism and educational content to Ontarians.” Read more here.

The CRTC has called for comments on its proposed new Broadcasting Fees Regulations. With adoption of the Online Streaming Act, the amended Broadcasting Act broadens the pool of potential feepayers from licensed broadcasting undertakings to all broadcasting undertakings, including a newly-defined class of online undertakings (for the transmission or retransmission of programs over the Internet). It also eliminates some of the fees paid by broadcasting undertakings by abolishing Part II licence fees imposed under the current fee regulations. One important change is that the new regs will require broadcasting ownership groups to pay broadcasting fees, rather than individual broadcasting undertakings. Other changes include setting a threshold exemption level of $10 million (Canadian) for the broadcasting ownership groups, and providing for an upper limit to the amount of fees. Since online undertakings will now be liable for fees under the amended Act, the commission needs to define which online undertakings will be required to pay these fees. Interventions are being accepted until Sept. 22.