Looking to provide a new video option for its broadband base, Canada’s Rogers Communications has rolled out “App TV,” a new slimmed-down pay-TV streaming package that starts at $25 Canadian dollars (US$17.13) per month.
In addition to Netflix, App TV features more than 40 live and on-demand channels along with 20 free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels. App TV supports both live TV feeds and an on-demand library, but currently does not support a cloud DVR.
The full, initial lineup for App TV is located here. Examples of channels in the App TV lineup include entertainment focused networks such as A&E, AMC, Discovery, Food Network, FX, HGTV and Game Show Network, a limited sports lineup (EuroWorld Sport, Fight Network and Game+), several movies-focused networks and several regional Citynews feeds. Examples of FAST channels in the App TV lineup include Fail Army, Pet Collective, World Poker Tour and a set of FAST channels from Xumo (Xumo Action Movies, Xumo Movies and Xumo Westerns).
Rogers customers will access App TV via the Rogers Xfinity Stream app, which is supported by iOS and Android mobile devices, web browsers and the Rogers Xfinity Stream Box, a streaming player that runs Comcast’s EntertainmentOS platform. Rogers has been asked to list out other TV-connected devices that support the Rogers Xfinity Stream app and the new App TV service.
Related:Canada’s Rogers adopts Comcast’s ‘Xfinity’ branding
Rogers is launching App TV as it seeks out ways to keep a video relationship with its broadband base and to provide a new, less expensive video option that can help to curtail pay-TV cord-cutting. Rogers lost 35,000 video subs in Q4 2024, ending the year with 2.61 million.
More ‘Xfinity’ product branding
The launch ties into Rogers’ expanding use of “Xfinity” branding and products that take advantage of core Comcast technologies. Rogers had already shifted its pay-TV platform to Comcast’s X1 platform and adopted the bulk of Comcast’s broadband device roadmap.
Rogers has since followed with a multi-year tech and product agreement with Comcast, and said it would adopt Comcast’s network design, including its distributed access architecture (DAA) and tools along with a “unified” DOCSIS 4.0 platform.
Rogers then announced in November 2024 that it would start to adopt Xfinity branding across multiple product lines. A recent product coming out of those agreements is the Rogers launch of a “Storm-Ready” in-home device that includes Wi-Fi 6 and cellular backup connectivity.
DOCSIS 4.0 trials
Rogers shared some updates on its cable network upgrade initiatives on its Q4 2024 earnings call on Thursday, January 30.
Related:Rogers expands ‘Xfinity’ playbook with ‘Storm-Ready’ device launch
Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri noted that Rogers has been testing speeds of 4 Gbit/s down by 1 Gbit/s upstream via recent DOCSIS 4.0 technology trials. Rogers, he added, has completed “mid-split” upgrades that beef up upstream capacity in its western systems and is now extending those upgrades to Rogers’ footprint in eastern Canada. Comcast is also using mid-splits for its cable network upgrades.
The mid-split upgrade is a “a precursor to the DOCSIS 4.0 implementation, which will be later this year,” Staffieri said.
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