Bell goes for slam dunk with Raptors reality show

Bell Media is banking on the growing popularity of the Toronto Raptors with a 28-episode reality show on the basketball team to air on TSN, plus extra content on mobile and on-demand exclusively for its customers, as the battle to retain viewers amid competition from over-the-top streaming services such as Netflix heats up.

“People want to be able to watch the content that they are attracted to on the screen of their choice: big screen, smaller screen, at home or on the go. As far as exclusivity, our model is to instigate projects that we think consumers will be attracted to,” said Nicholas Poitras, vice-president of marketing communications for Bell Residential Services.

The reality show called Open Gym, available starting Monday, is produced by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment — in which Bell and Rogers Communications Inc. jointly own a 75-per-cent stake.

The series will offer a glimpse into players’ personal lives, the locker-room and the road — an offering sweetened by the Raptors’ standing at the top of the National Basketball Association’s eastern conference.

Bell, a division of BCE Inc., has seen success with a similar series on the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens called 24CH, and previously produced two short seasons of Open Gym, mainly online.

But now an extended season of Open Gym will be available across multiple platforms.

It will air on TSN 4 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and will be available on Bell customers’ mobile devices via the Bell TV app.

Bell customers will get early access to an extended version of the show on the Bell TV app 24 hours before the episode hits the airwaves. An Open Gym After Show, where fans will discuss the latest episode, will be available to Bell customers only via Fibe TV, ondemand on the Bell Local Channel, or on the Bell TV app.

It’s an approach to media distribution similar to that of Rogers with National Hockey League games and its GamePlus app, said Greg MacDonald, head of research with Macquarie Capital Canada.

Last year, Rogers struck a $5.2-billion deal for the rights to distribute NHL games in Canada. It offers its NHL GameCentre Live online streaming app to anyone, but GamePlus — where viewers can access unique angles such as a camera mounted on a referee’s helmet — is only available to Rogers customers.

The move pushed Bell to file a complaint with the CRTC. In turn, Rogers’ chief executive Guy Laurence called Bell a “crybaby.”

Sports, particularly live events, is content consumers are still willing to pay for, said Maher Yaghi at Desjardins Securities.

To justify the high cost of producing sports content, media companies need to find more ways to leverage their sports assets, he said.