Why no apps for Roku, FireTV, AndroidTV, etc.?

[wayner92]

There do not appear to be Rogers Ignite TV apps for streaming platforms like Roku, AppleTV, FireTV, AndroidTV, etc.

Comcast has Xfinity apps for many of these platforms so technically it doesn't seem like an issue.  And Shaw used to have an IgniteTV app on FireTV.  And Bell has apps on many of these platforms for their IPTV service.

So why doesn't Rogers?  So that they can rent more boxes at $10/box?

This seems like a drawback to me and may cause me to move to Bell in the future.

***Edited Labels***

[wayner92]

No one knows whats up here?  Is this a licensing issue?  Rogers subsidiary Shaw has a FireTV app available for their Ignite service: https://support.shaw.ca/t5/tv-articles/how-to-use-the-ignite-tv-app-on-amazon-fire-tv/ta-p/43645

[-G-]

@wayner92 As a policy, Rogers will not make any comment about unannounced changes to their services, so do not expect any official answer to your question.

Rogers clearly made a business decision not to release an Ignite TV app on any of the major streaming platforms.  However, given that former Shaw customers have access to an Ignite TV app on the Fire TV platform, this now puts Rogers into an uncomfortable position.  If Shaw customers get to keep their FireTV app going forward, how can they not offer it to Rogers customers?

At this moment, a technical showstopper is that Rogers has not yet completed transitioning Shaw customers and their Ignite TV customers  to a common platform, and that means that Rogers and Shaw streaming apps authenticate through different back-end systems.  At some point, the Ignite product managers and senior executives will need to make a business decision again as to whether or not to offer streaming apps to their (now much larger) customer base.

Right now, I would say that we have decent odds of one day finally getting Ignite TV apps on multiple streaming platforms.  However, until those apps get released, it's all just speculation and wishful thinking.

[wayner92]

If this doesn't change in the near future then I may consider switching to Bell Canada.  They appear to have apps for Chromecast, FireTV, AndroidTV and AppleTV.

Bell also appears to sell their boxes for $80.

[noneed]

This is exactly why I, and many people I know, have left Rogers for Bell. I even have one family member who became upset at Bell and went to Rogers and regretted it after a month and switched back.

Xfinity (which owns the technology ignite uses), does not have a Google tv app but does allow other devices like Roku and apple tv. Rogers does not. Why? Simple.

They make more money by renting boxes to you. Plain and simple.

So unless Rogers decides to provide boxes for free, there's no sense ever switching back unless they have an app.

I'm not paying for extra boxes.